Van Graan can follow Cheika's lead to save Red's season
Munster need to develop siege mentality to save their season
MUNSTER’S defeat in Castres last weekend had a eerily familiar feel to it. A dank night in the south of France, a fired-up home team frequently going over the edge in front of their rabid fans, some woeful officiating and an Irish province narrowly losing a European Cup game they had plenty of opportunities to win.
A definite sense of deja vu, and a symmetrical one also, for Munster’s loss was almost exactly 10 years on from Leinster’s similar defeat at the same venue on December 12, 2008.
Michael Cheika’s men were badly bullied in that 18-15 reverse and while Wallaby centre Steve Kefu did see yellow for Castres, the Leinster coach had plenty of reasons to be peeved at the performance of referee Dave Pearson as the home side rattled their opponents with a concerted campaign of dirty tricks.
Indeed, the famously irascible Cheika was so annoyed he declined to speak to the media afterwards — perhaps anticipating the blood-letting that would follow.
And the fallout was indeed intense, to the point of being hysterical. At that time, Munster were European kingpins, reigning champions and tipped to land their third title in four years, while Leinster were seen as the perennial underachievers — showboaters with a soft underbelly.
It was that loss in Castres that caused one pundit to tag Leinster as ‘The Ladyboys’ — a particularly scathing and tacky moniker that served as key motivating factor in what happened subsequently.
Leinster — sick of being told how great Munster were, bitter on the back of persistent European failure and angry at the constant, over-the-top criticism — went into siege mode and, almost immediately, developed a harder edge.
They won their next two interpros against Ulster and Connacht, followed it up with another league win over a decent Cardiff side who would make that year’s European semi-finals, and, even though they lost their next European Cup encounter to fuel their detractors, that was away to an excellent Wasps outfit containing a clutch of quality internationals of the calibre of Josh Lewsey, Tim Payne, Phil Vickery, Joe Worsley and Serge Betsen.
From that point on, Leinster truly found their focus and their only losses over the rest of the season came when they were either resting up for, or recovering from, crucial European clashes.
In fact, their harrowing experience in Castres proved invaluable when squeezing by Harlequins in the infamous ‘Bloodgate’ European quarter-final and, after they blew away Munster in the supercharged semi in Croke Park and then saw off Leicester in the Edinburgh final, Leinster were able to fling the ‘Ladyboys’ tag back in the face of their now sheepish accusers.
Thankfully, 10 years on, Munster are not being subjected to such cheap swipes after but the way they were similarly bullied by Castres — aided by Wayne Barnes and his team of officials having a shocker — has raised considerable concern.
There were mitigating factors, aside from disciplinary gripes, to factor in. Just as Leinster missed their main enforcer, Leo Cullen 10 years previously, Munster suffered without the bulk and belligerence of their giant South African second row, Jean Kleyn in Stade Pierre Fabre.
Kleyn is fit again and Munster need his help to locate their forward fire over the next two weekends and beyond to recharge this season’s mission of ending their eight-year wait for silverware.
Facing Ulster away tomorrow night, followed by Leinster in Limerick the next weekend, brings them up against two teams buzzing off their back-to-back December doubles and both are eminently losable fixtures, as is their trip to Connacht at the start of January.
It represents the most testing period of Johann van Graan’s reign. There is no danger of the affable South African ‘doing a Cheika’ with his media duties but, away from the public eye, Van Graan needs to start infusing his men with the siege mentality that traditionally brings the best out of the province.
A series of dominant displays from Joey Carbery would undoubtedly help his and Munster’s situation. Ultimately, Munster’s loss came down to missed penalties in Castres — the type they took for granted in the Ronan O’Gara era — and Carbery (having shown encouraging leadership in the draw at Exeter) has to start consistently bossing matches to justify his status as Munster’s main playmaker and Ireland’s designated back-up to Johnny Sexton.
But this is not just about one player. There are rumblings about Munster’s sense of identity being compromised by the influx of a host of players from outside the province (there were 11 imports in the 23 against Castres, whereas Lein-
ster had only three against Bath).
That may be unconnected to their bullying in France but the only way to quell such speculation is for Munster to start imposing themselves on teams the way they used to when the vast majority of their squad was homegrown during the province’s mid-2000s peak.
These interpros are not handy Pro14 run-outs against understrength opponents. These three matches will be fullon battles against local rivals full of players desperate to make their point ahead of the Six Nations and next year’s World Cup.
No place to hide, then, for Munster or Van Graan. However, there is equally no need to descend into gloom given the quality in this Munster squad.
Leinster’s loss to Castres was a watershed result 10 years ago, sparking an upsurge that, a couple of dud seasons aside, has seen them rise to the status of being the best, and most progressive, team in Europe.
Munster need to draw similar inspiration and motivation from acute disappointment — not least because, if they do not, the consequences could be extreme.