RALLYING CRY
Johann urges Reds to grab ‘huge’ chance
JOHANN van Graan is urging his Munster players to keep the feelgood factor going and grab the ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ to push past Toulon and into the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup.
Van Grann’s charges have, arguably, the most difficult task of the three Irish provinces in action this weekend as they welcome Toulon to Thomond Park today for a Champions Cup quarter-final, with Leinster taking on reigning champions Saracens at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.
Ireland internationals Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway, who missed out on the Grand Slam party, have been passed fit to face the French club who won the competition three times on the bounce between 2013-2015, and head coach Van Graan is now relishing the prospect of testing themselves against the French giants.
‘You want to be part of something bigger than yourself, you want to be part of huge games,’ he said. ‘I was part of a World Cup semi-final, it was
big, Super Rugby finals, but this is huge. Maybe the best way I can say it is, the opportunity of a lifetime lasts as long as the lifetime of the opportunity. We’ve got 80 minutes of rugby, at the end of the day it’s a rugby game at home.’ Van Graan is hoping that the Thomond Park crowd can help his side over the line, calling on supporters to help recreate the kind of atmosphere that made the stadium a fortress when they landed European success in 2006 and 2008. ‘Even the small crowd that came out on Saturday [against Scarlets] at Thomond Park, they made a lot of noise. That’s why you work for homeground advantage. Four teams worked exceptionally hard to get home quarterfinals and we’re one of them,’ he continued. ‘We’ll use the home crowd but we’ve got to play well as well. We’ve got to be smart, we’ve got to execute, we’ve got to be physical and we’ve got to win big moments.’ Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has been forced into a reshuffle for the visit of Saracens, with Australian second row Scott Fardy shifted into the back row after both Seán O’Brien (shoulder) and Jack Conan (knee) failed to overcome their injury problems. Connacht are the first Irish team in action as they welcome Gloucester to the Sportsground this afternoon for their Challenge Cup quarter-final.