UNDER STARTERS ORDERS...
MUNSTER GET SET TO GO TO ‘WAR’
MUNSTER coach Johann van Graan says his side won’t be changing tactics due to their injury problems and called on his ‘warriors’ to win in ‘the Munster way’.
A shoulder injury means Tommy O’Donnell will be absent in the long term, while Chris Cloete’s broken arm means Munster could start Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final without a recognised openside flanker.
Returning Grand Slam heroes CJ Stander and Peter O’Mahony will surely parachute straight into the team, and could be partnered by Jack O’Donoghue, Dave O’Callaghan, Robin Copeland or the only natural fit seven, Conor Oliver, who has never played a European game.
But Van Graan insists whatever team takes to the field, they will stick to the traditions that the Thomond Park supporters are used to.
‘The Munster way. Rugby games are won in the hearts of men. Back the people of Munster to pull us through,’ said Van Graan.
‘(I get) goosebumps when I say things like this, but sport is about doing the unthinkable, go to where other teams aren’t prepared to go. When you see things like this, you really do respect the opposition because you know they might take you apart.
‘But rugby games are 50-50 occasions, it’s the same for both teams, it’s all about 80 minutes. You want to go to war with warriors. I saw warriors this morning and everyone is ready to go.
‘Saying things like “put your body on the line, work-rate off the ball”, gets tested in games like Saturday. But that’s what Munster is about.’
Munster could have to rely on heavily on the emotional side of the clash, especially if their injury crisis in the backline does not ease in the coming days, and Van Graan has given his ailing stars until tomorrow to prove they are fit.
Simon Zebo, Andrew Conway and Rory Scannell are three sidelined players with the best chance of returning. But Conway hasn’t played since the end of January due to a knee injury, Zebo sat out last weekend’s win over Scarlets with a hamstring strain, while Scannell started his return-to-play protocols yesterday.
According to Van Graan he won’t take any chances on Scannell — even without Chris Farrell, Jaco Taute and Tyler Bleyendaal to call on in the centre.
‘It’s basically a medical decision. He’s fit enough to play, it’s medical decision. If he is ruled out, he’s out, if he passes all his tests, he is in. So it’s basically as simple as that.
‘I think leaving it to Thursday or Friday is too late. We’ve got a training week of Monday to Wednesday and to get through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you’ve to train at some stage of the training week.
‘That would be too much of a gamble to leave a guy up to Friday. If it was a guy with a bump or a bruise who had played every single game but not a guy coming back from injury, you need them to be part of team training. We need guys who are 100 per cent ready to go.
‘I know different players play with different... let’s call it “appreciation of pain”. Some guys can play through pain and some can’t so we’ll leave it to the individual and if the individual and our medical team deem them fit and they convince us on the training field that they are ready we are going to pick them, if not we’re just going to go with the next guy in line and back that player.’
If Munster needed any reminder of the challenge that Toulon will bring at the weekend, they need only look to the 49-0 win they claimed against Clermont last weekend. It was no surprise to the Munster coach, though.
‘No, it just emphasised how good they are. Once they get momentum they’re very difficult to stop. Some of their scrums were incredible, they just went through the opposition and I think the biggest thing is you’ve got to respect them, they way they did it.
‘It was a quality Clermont side and the way they (Toulon) went about their business, close to 40 minutes they almost racked up 40 points. They rested a few key individuals so it will be a massive challenge and that just confirmed the enormous task that awaits us.’