Last Saturday’s 40-14 beating in Bath was a profoundly disappointing start for both Munster and their prodigal outhalf JJ Hanrahan in his third Champions Cup campaign with his native province. Yet it still served to demonstrate why Munster signed him and vindicated his decision to come back again.
Granted, save for a couple of penalties to touch and restarts, Hanrahan hardly touched the ball as Bath recorded the quickest bonus point in the competition’s history by the 19th minute. Yet, in the absence of Jack Crowley, his experience and the accuracy of his kicking game – especially when arrowing penalties into the corner – were instrumental in bringing Munster back into the game.
What’s more, he reveals that the volume of the Red Army, both in number and in voice, almost had him in tears when emerging from Bath’s Apex Hotel for the trek to the Rec.
“There was a 500-metre guard of honour leaving the hotel, a metre wide, people shouting and screaming your name in your face,” said Hanrahan. “I’ve obviously been away for quite a while, four years, so to come back into Europe and experience that again for me was special.
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“I’ve obviously experienced the away fans in Munster, of course I have, but for this recent group, for example the La Rochelle and the Northampton games, I missed them. So, for me particularly, it was bringing back a lot.”
Hanrahan recalled the dramatic 18-17 pool win in Perpignan in December, 2013, when he brilliantly sidestepped the opposing fullback Joffrey Michel after coming on as a 78th-minute replacement to score the winning try. Which, of course, begs the question as to what such a talented player was doing on the bench for 78 minutes?
Hanrahan also cited the semi-final in Marseilles against Toulon the following April, when Jonny Wilkinson’s boot accounted for Munster in a 24-16 defeat, in a game refereed by Wayne Barnes.
“So, I’ve experienced it before, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve been there, and it was an amazing thing.”
That added to Munster’s belief they “could do something”, as Hanrahan puts it.
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“That’s why we’re very disappointed in how we let the travelling support down and let ourselves down, and the first 20 minutes we didn’t give a proper account of ourselves,” he said. “I think after 20 minutes, we showed a bit more of what we’re about and we’re in the game.
“But you can’t give a team like Bath, who are world-class players throughout with that power, that much of a head start.”
Emotional though the prematch build-up may have been, the 33-year-old has the experience to cope. Those coping skills have been honed and strengthened during a career that has also taken in spells at Northampton, Clermont, Dragons and Connacht.
“I suppose nerves, excitement, they’re all kind of similar feelings really. For me, there was an opportunity to represent Munster, represent my family, represent Kerry, and try and do the best I possibly could for the team.
“I didn’t think the opportunity was going to come again, so I was unbelievably proud and just unbelievably excited for the opportunity that was there. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go how we wanted as a team, but you don’t take these moments for granted.”
All of this underlines what he calls “the privilege” of representing Munster this week, when they host Gloucester at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).
He continues: “We know the way the format is now, you have to win your home games. I didn’t see the stats exactly, but a lot of home teams won (last weekend) and a lot with bonus points as well.
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“So that’s a bit of a pressure on us. Not a pressure, even; it’s more of a thing for us to walk into and embrace. This is where we’re at. We’re at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It’s going to be the biggest home crowd Munster’s ever experienced in the European Cup; 35,000 [tickets] sold, potentially more. Amazing opportunity, amazing stadium. It’ll be class.”
All the more so for a son of Kerry who has never played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and was last there for an Ed Sheeran concert.
Hanrahan talks about Gloucester’s innovative attack and singles out the importance of Tomos Williams and Ross Byrne. He says Munster need to win the aerial duel, while suggesting one way of remedying the game as a spectacle would be to only permit two-handed attempts to catch a high ball – a la intercepts – which has merit.
But the bigger-picture stuff can wait. So too, even, the rest of this 10-week block, or indeed the season.
“You’ve just got to focus on this. We’re almost blinkers on and there’s just one team in front of us. We’re not looking at or talking about anything else.”
