It’s not all rosy but Reds can build on a solid start
JOHANN VAN GRAAN made it very clear that he would have snapped your hand off if offered a return of seven points from Munster’s opening two Heineken Champions Cup games, but one wonders if he would have been quite so keen if he had read the small print.
Saturday’s five-try win over Gloucester came at a cost, and the province will reveal the full extent of the damage taken later today.
Tommy O’Donnell is believed to have broken his left leg, Rhys Marshall had to be withdrawn at half-time and Dan Goggin was helped off the field with a worrying knee injury.
They join Keith Earls, Conor Murray, Chris Farrell and Jaco Taute on the treatment tables.
There will also be concern over the manner in which Munster struggled to put this game to bed. After a sluggish start, which included confusion at the lineout, sloppy passing and some poor decision making, the home side eventually began to attack with more purpose.
However, even as they ran in five tries, they allowed the 14 men of Gloucester to dot down three of their own. Such was the space afforded to the visitors, at times in that second half it looked as though they had the extra man advantage.
And while Munster can take satisfaction in getting over the line without so many key players, it should also be remembered that Gloucester were missing top scorer Charlie Sharples, while the controversial dismissal of Danny Cipriani with less than half an hour played totally changed the complexion of the game. The positives for Van Graan are that not only are his team getting results without performing particularly well, but his two high-profile summer signings are already living up to the billing.
Indeed, Tadhg Beirne and Joey Carbery were the two most impressive players at Thomond Park. A typically industrious evening for Beirne ended with 13 tackles and 3 turnovers, while the blue scrum cap provided a constant threat around the lineout and maul.
Carbery, who missed with his first shot at goal following Mike Haley’s try, was at the centre of all that was good about Munster.
The sublime behind-the-back pass in the build up to Sammy Arnold’s try goes straight onto the highlights reel, but there was so much more to admire about the young out-half’s game, particularly when Alby Matthewson replaced Duncan Williams and provided Carbery with quicker ball.
Van Graan should be able to finally field a Murray-Carbery halfback pairing by the time the December double-header against Castres rolls around, and the anticipation of what they can achieve together will almost certainly be worth the wait. His second-half try, and his involvement in the build-up play, was the mark of a man playing with confidence.
‘I thought Joey managed the game pretty well,’ said Van Graan.
‘We said at half-time we needed to turn them. Unfortunately he put the first one [kick] out but I thought his two kicks from left to right was pretty good but they went to the corner.
‘We forced spillage on their lineout but they escaped, got the scrum, got the penalty, we went for the scrum again and two phases later he scores — it’s brilliant if your No 10 can do that.
‘I thought we forced a bit just inside our own half of the field at the back end of the first half when they received a red card, so Joey is growing week by week and so is the rest of the team.’
The Munster head coach is likely to rest a string of key players for this weekend’s Pro14 clash with Conference A leaders Glasgow, before Van Graan loses his Ireland players for the November international window.
‘I can’t say these last two weeks weren’t tough — the Exeter game and the carryover from that into this week, this is a tough competition and that’s why if you come out of it at the very end it shows how good you are,’ Van Graan continued.
‘I said the day the draw came out, it’s four quality sides [in the pool].
‘There’s four rounds left, Scarlets lost their first two games last year and got to two semi-finals [Europe and the Pro14], so there’s a lot left in this competition.
‘From a mental point of view it’s nice to take a break from Europe and go back to Pro14, although the challenge doesn’t get easier. Glasgow is the top team in our conference but this pool will go right down to the wire in January.’
His team may not be the finished article, but Munster have successfully negotiated a challenging start to their European season.