Van Graan: Munster have ‘nowhere to hide’
Leinster’s rotation reinforces pecking order in Irish rugby
MUNSTER coach Johann van Grann has warned his troops there is no hiding place at Lansdowne Road as his side seek to down champions Leinster. The coach has stuck with 12 of the team that hammered Ulster last weekend — including Joey Carbery who returns to face his former team — with Jean Kleyn, Darren Sweetnam and Sammy Arnold adding a freshness to the team. While Leinster may hold some of its top men in reserve, van Graan is well aware of how potent they can be on their own patch. ‘It doesn’t matter who they select, it is a quality side,’ said van Graan, who has lost both of his meetings to date with Leinster. ‘They have multiple options in all of their positions so we will have to be at our very best to beat them. ‘If you go and play against the European champions and the PRO14 champions in their back yard it’s going to be a massive challenge. ‘There is no place to hide. You have to be at your best, mentally and physically, to win.’ The last five clashes between the sides in the capital have fallen Leinster’s way, including last season’s PRO14 semi-final at the RDS. Only four of today’s starting team — Andrew Conway, Stephen Archer, CJ Stander and Tommy O’Donnell — started in their 34-23 win in Dublin four years ago.
LEO CULLEN, the Leinster coach, pondered the ‘tricky balance’ men like him seek out when naming their teams. One wonders if it was actually all that taxing for Cullen when he picked his side to play Munster tonight.
He has made 11 changes from the Leinster selection that comfortably accounted for Connacht in Galway a week ago, and yet he should still expect his men to triumph against their greatest rivals in Lansdowne Road.
That is a reflection on where both teams now stand.
Cullen can afford to change more than two-thirds of his players from one week to the next because he has a deeper and a better squad than Johann van Graan in Munster.
There was a practical urgency behind Cullen’s decision; Leinster have only six days before their opening European match against Wasps, in the RDS next Friday.
But he could make changes and still anticipate victory tonight. That is the breadth of choice the coach of Europe’s best team would expect to enjoy.
It is also a consequence of Munster’s modern status, too.
A decade ago, in the winter of 2008, they were the defending European champions, Leinster the side desperate to match them but unproven.
The difference between Leinster then and Munster now is that doubts about Leinster settled on their fortitude and desire, but there was no question of their quality.
Munster in 2018 are dogged and hungry and desperate to succeed, but they do not have the playing class Leinster did a decade ago, especially in the back-line.
And that is where Leinster retain an advantage for this game, even after all the switches.
‘It doesn’t matter who they really select, it is a quality side,’ said Van Graan (right) in the preamble. And if that was a sentiment delivered in the spirit of harmless prematch talk, it was, in this instance, incisive.
Leinster’s starting backs include Rob Kearney, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe and Ross Byrne. Their pack includes arguably Joe Schmidt’s starting locks for the November series in Devin Toner and James Ryan; and Sean O’Brien brings years of experience to the back row, but also the desire of a man starting his first game in over six months.
They have a Test front row waiting in reserve, too.
Van Graan has made only three changes from the riotous win against Ulster in Limerick last weekend. That is indicative of the extent of his options but also of Munster’s determination to do well on their visit to Dublin tonight.
It is a risk by the coach to put out close to his strongest team, particularly with their first European match coming this day week, a forbidding trip to England to play Exeter Chiefs.
The retention of Peter O’Mahony is particularly notable; he is one of the Test stars one supposes the national player management programme plays particular attention to, given his injury record.
He improves Munster practically and he stiffens their spirit too, however, and his inclusion is all on its own a declaration of their ambitions.
O’Mahony features in the strongest part of the Munster team, in a back row including Tommy O’Donnell and CJ Stander.
It is Joey Carbery that will draw most of the attention in the Munster ranks, though.
Not only does he return to his native province but he lines up opposite the man he rivalled as Johnny Sexton’s understudy, Ross Byrne.
These inter-provincial matches can very easily become puffed up beyond their relevance by anticipation and hype, but the Carbery-Byrne comparison is one that could have repercussions for Ireland’s Test planning into next month and beyond that, to the Six Nations. The demand from the bleachers will be for a commanding performance from Carbery, but that is contingent upon the performance of his pack.
And Munster will be confident they can compete effectively, with the return of Jean Kleyn significant in that regard.
Niall Scannell is another Munster player whose performance will be interesting to take in, especially set in the international context.
He has impressed the Ireland coaching team time and again, but injuries have checked what should have been significant progress.
As matters stand, he could still be plausibly counted as a player who, with a good run this season, could push his way into Schmidt’s starting team in time for the World Cup.
Others could register in Schmidt’s plans more broadly, including O’Donnell and Tadhg Beirne. The latter is, along with Carbery and Andrew Conway one of three former Leinster players competing against their old province.
That is another indication of the way the fortunes of the two dominant forces in Irish rugby have diverged over the past decade.
A result either way tonight will not overturn the prevailing order. A Leinster win, which looks most likely, would, though, remind everyone again where the power now lies.