Two statement wins have changed the narrative around Munster’s season.
Their campaign was at risk of becoming merely a scramble for the URC play-offs and qualification for next season’s Champions Cup, whereupon they becalmed Connacht’s all-time record crowd in Castlebar and then revived memories of epic wins on French soil by beating Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle last Saturday.
Munster face another daunting assignment in France against the Champions Cup top seeds Bordeaux Bègles at the Stade Chaban-Delmas (3pm Irish time, live on Premier Sports) in Saturday’s quarter-final.
How did Munster stun O’Gara’s La Rochelle?
However, the defiant win in the Stade Deflandre was a reminder from squad and coaching staff alike, not least to next season’s incoming head coach Clayton McMillan, that Munster are actually not a bad side.
“I think the last three seasons have had their ups and downs, but we won a URC two years ago, we finished top of the table last season,” defence coach Denis Leamy reminded us after the squad’s light Tuesday run-out at their HPC in the University of Limerick.
That said, Munster had lost 10 of 18 competitive games until those last two wins, and he admitted: “We probably haven’t been consistent enough. We are certainly always striving to be at the top end, but I think we have a lot of qualities within the building.
“We’ve a lot of really, really good people and a lot of quality people, and I think when we get our resources together we can be right up there against the very best. We haven’t got all our players back but we have a lot of them back and I think we’re capable of strong performances.”
While agreeing their injury profile for much of the season had been “frustrating”, he also said: “That’s life, that’s the game. You just have to work through that and do your best. There’s no guarantees but we’re hoping that the season will be a very strong finish.”
Munster can draw on the last two seasons to foster that confidence and that 25-24 win in La Rochelle, which was founded on their defence. Leamy hailed the many big moments, two-man tackles as well as the work rate and desire in their scrambling.
“Whatever bit you have to find in those battles in France in European Cup rugby, they found it. Our appetite to fight was great.”
Bordeaux are expected to recall several frontliners rested from last Sunday’s 43-31 win over Ulster, including the fleet-footed Louis Bielle-Biarrey, and Leamy acknowledged that Munster will have to defend even better this week.
“We had a look at them in detail, literally an hour ago, and they are full of quality. They have obviously got someone who I know quite well and worked with in [attack coach] Noel McNamara. He’s very much an attack-minded coach. They’ll get the ball to their profile players, to their edges where they have got [Damian] Penaud and Bielle-Biarrey. Everyone is calling him Billy Barry at the moment. We all know who he is!
“They have loads of quality and they have got the power up front, as you’d expect in terms of their scrum and their maul. It’s a big challenge for us but the boys are feeling good. We are very energised after the last couple of weeks. We will have to go to the well but [we’re] looking forward to the challenge again.”
While acknowledging this week is challenging both mentally and physically, they’ve lightened the players’ loads, with off days on Monday and Wednesday, and short sessions on Tuesday and Thursday.
“A freshness in bodies and minds is what we’re angling at to get that performance.”
Munster will encounter another former outhalf in Joey Carbery next Saturday, and Leamy said: “Joey’s a top-class player and we were sad to see him go. He’s definitely a loss to the building here. Look, when guys want to go and seek other opportunities and sample a different culture you just wish them the best.
“Everybody’s pleased for Joey and how it’s going for him and hopefully he has a very successful season, domestically. Just not on Saturday!”
Leamy has been involved in some great days as a player (he started both the 2006 and 2008 finals) and as a coach, and said of last Saturday’s game: “Ah it was brilliant. You got a feeling over the last couple of months that it was a game people were talking about a lot.
“By the time we arrived in on Friday, you got the sense that the supporters were up for it. Around the city, you were certainly getting the vibe that there were a lot of Munster fans there, and there was a party atmosphere.
“Then come Saturday, there was a real focus in our group and as we arrived at the ground, the scenes were incredible. They were really special.
“It reminded me of a Heineken Cup final I would have been involved in over the years. It had that feeling. I haven’t seen that for a Round of 16 [tie] before but there was huge energy within our supporters, and the volume and the songs were class. That gave the boys a big lift. That definitely helps and the boys responded in kind.”
Leamy is himself returning to a ground where he famously held up a Georgian player over the Irish line to prevent the ignominy of a 2007 World Cup pool defeat.
“Oh God, I don’t know if that’s what I want to be remembered for,” he quipped.
