No less than the other provinces, the next six weeks constitute the meat of the season. Either side of the forthcoming back-to-back matches in what will most probably be the last
Heineken Cup
as we know it, and the final two rounds of pool games in January, are the festive derbies. Put together six wins now and a team is decidedly well set for the post-Six Nations endgame to the campaign.
For Munster, the pressure is slightly more acute in light of their second round loss to Edinburgh, which, by comparison to unbeaten Leinster and Ulster, gives them comparatively little elbow room.
Accentuating the importance of this defining period of the season is the uncertainty over the future of several players, Conor Murray, Paul O'Connell and Donnacha Ryan, as well as the coaching ticket.
Rob Penney is in the second season of a two-year deal, which in effect gives him a one-and-a-half year audition for a new contract, and yesterday he made it clear he would regard a two-year sojourn as amounting to unfinished business.
In discussions
Confirming he was in discussions about a new contract, Penney said: "It's that time of year but it mightn't happen for another four or five months." When asked if he would like to stay on, he said: "I'd very much like to stay. I always thought it would be a three-year process."
In any event, the next six weeks may well have repercussions beyond this season. “It is an exciting time,” he maintained. “It is great to be here and the beauty of it is we are really masters of our own destiny in two competitions. This group is very capable of seeing it through if they have prepared well and can see it through to the levels we are capable of.”
“Certainly there is no reason why we cannot put ourselves in a really good frame and give us something really exciting to look forward to at the end of January. As you say it is something really exciting to look forward to in the next few months. This six weeks is the guts and hopefully we are sitting here at the end of this period having some pretty positive conversations.”
If it comes to pass that Munster have by then agreed to extending Penney’s contract then truthfully Munster will be in a better place.
That said, Penney is not especially interested in looking beyond this Sunday’s critical game at home to Perpignan, admitting that if they don’t win this game there won’t be much point in hopping aboard a plane to Catalonia for the return meeting six days later.
That 22,000 tickets have been sold may have something to do with Munster sitting atop the Rabo Pro12, but although they have transformed their poor league form of last season, not only does that defeat to Edinburgh linger but Penney accepteded that while they have learned the art of winning tight games, frailties remain.
"Ball control is consistently an area of concern for us and around that is our skill execution," he highlighted. "We are nowhere near within the bands we would deem to be acceptable. One is the decision-making of the ball carrier and one is the decision-making of the support people."
Working hard
"But we get those bits right we will start to be a much more dangerous side which is exciting but there is a little bit of frustration in there at the moment because we are much more capable than some of our performances would indicate and credit to the lads they are working hard and they know more than anybody it is just going through this little transition process that, as I say, decision-making on both ends, get that right, would be the biggest area for us."
While “competition is really close” between the respective outhalves, Ian Keatley and JJ Hanrahan, not surprisingly, Penney strongly indicated that the former remains first-choice. “We still haven’t made a decision on the starting 10 but we’d have to say that Ian’s still got the inside track at the moment.”
Tommy O’Donnell could feature for the Munster As this weekend after his quicker than expected recovery, although as things stand he is not registered for the Heineken Cup.
Five players were added to Perpignan’s injury list in their defeat to Clermont at home last Friday but “on their day they are a very tough side and we need to get the points at home” said Penney.
