Twelve months ago, Munster faced a daunting run of matches to try to secure their first trophy in more than a decade: three away games on the bounce, travelling to Glasgow, up to Dublin where Leinster awaited and then a long-haul trip to Cape Town to confront the Stormers.
There were many qualities required to successfully negotiate that schedule and Graham Rowntree’s squad demonstrated all of them. Talent, resilience, grit and the mental and physical toughness and courage to play under extreme pressure in hostile environments.
Munster showed commendable composure along the way, Jack Crowley’s drop goal against Leinster a perfect illustration of managing those big moments in the marquee matches. Victory over Ulster at Thomond Park last weekend secured a number one seeding for Munster to take into the knockout format of the United Rugby Championship (URC).
It guarantees “home comforts”, as Munster won’t have to leave the cosy surroundings of Thomond Park should they progress all the way to the final. A nine-match winning streak underpinned their push for that top spot in the league standings.
All teams need a little good fortune and Munster’s was a clean bill of health for most of that run. It’s only in the last couple of weeks that they have accumulated a few injuries. Zebo’s form in the twilight of his career gave the team a different dimension and unpredictability in attack, but the key player is Crowley, a model of consistency who provides intelligent direction.
Cast your mind back to the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa in 2022. Crowley was struggling for game time in Munster but on the back of his performances there he ended up starting against Australia at the Aviva Stadium several weeks later in the November Test series.
Joey Carbery had moved from Leinster to Munster, slated as a missing piece in the jigsaw but a combination of ridiculous misfortune with injuries, the resultant peaks and troughs in form, and some coaching decisions precluded him from having the consistent impact that his talent suggested.
Crowley stepped into that space. His durability and composure were key components in Munster winning the URC title last season and he was equally influential in managing the province’s current streak of nine consecutive victories.
While Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) and Antoine Dupont (Toulouse) became the focal point for their respective teams in game management, having a direct impact on attacking patterns, Crowley struck a blow for the traditional virtues of the outhalf as a controlling influence. He fits the modern template in that he is able to challenge the gain-line when the opportunity presents itself, while keeping a steady hand on the tiller in dictating tempo and momentum.
Ross Byrne enjoyed a resurgence as opposed to Crowley’s emergence in late 2022. Having lost his place to brother Harry in the pecking order the previous year, he kicked the winning penalty against Australia to restart his Test career and in doing so made a down payment on the number 10 jersey for when Johnny Sexton eventually retired.
Ross sensibly doubled down on his strengths rather than trying to overreach for new skills at the behest of external pressure. His point of difference as an outhalf is based on the strength of his kicking game, punting and placed ball. Discrepancies only come to light in certain scenarios, primarily when Leinster try to play off slow ball.
Losing the Champions Cup final trained the analysis spotlight on what went wrong for Leinster. In the short term, the consistency of selection around Byrne has given certainty to his team-mates in how the team will play, a control that was almost good enough to earn a fifth star on the jersey.
Leinster can tweak playing style in choosing between the outhalves that sit behind Byrne. Sam Prendergast got an opportunity and looked sharp against Connacht but the visitors to the RDS were so poor for most of the match that it is hard to accurately assess his performance.
Prendergast’s selection in preference to Harry Byrne, and Ciarán Frawley’s positioning at inside centre for that match, slightly cloud the pecking order in Leinster at outhalf. Leo Cullen’s decision to play Prendergast might indicate he is edging closer to a spot in a matchday 23 rather than taking a train to Galway, loan move or otherwise.
Frawley is in an impossible situation when weighing up the club-vs-country conundrum. The Ireland management view him as an outhalf while Leinster have played him everywhere except there – primarily at fullback – for the most part this season. Versatility is great until you start to miss out to specialist players in positions for the big matches. Contrast Frawley’s fate with that of young Jamie Osbourne, who started the European final.
Leinster’s incoming backs’ coach, Tyler Bleyendaal, will have to wait and see whether he gets to work with the two Byrnes, Prendergast, and Frawley next season. As a former outhalf, he will be familiar with the requirements of the position. He will be focused on the medium- to long-term approach on how Leinster play the game and who is best suited to run the game in the 10 jersey.
Leinster can’t afford to be distracted by the outside chatter regarding the pros and cons of the outhalf situation. Winning a URC title would remove the monkey off their backs in ending a run without silverware. The first step is to beat Ulster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Richie Murphy has had a positive impact on Ulster’s fortunes, tweaking the playing style and also making decisions with regard to players and selection that have energised performances. Cormac Izuchukwu is an obvious example.
In the short-term Leinster are unlikely to wander too far from the approach that has served them well enough for most of the season, one that is reliant on a powerful platform created by the pack, recalibrated attacking patterns, robust defence, and a little more latitude for Gibson-Park to influence the game.
Winning the Champions Cup may have been the dream, but if Leinster can engineer outright success in the URC given the road that lies ahead, it will be a significant achievement nonetheless.
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