HAVING A GO
ANOTHER day, another narrow loss to Leinster. Munster had that familiar sinking feeling in the Aviva last Saturday night.
The pained expression on Peter O’Mahony’s face at the final whistle told its own story. Not for the first time in recent years, Munster matched their arch rivals across the park for vast swathes of the contest, but the hosts — as has often been the case — found that extra gear, or touch of class, when it mattered most.
That narrow loss and the grim injury updates which followed made it a tough first week back for the province. For all the recent setbacks, however, there were encouraging signs that their attack is finally starting to evolve. That much-maligned part of their game has been in need of improvement for a long time and there is a sense that Stephen Larkham is finally putting his stamp on things.
There was nothing subtle about Munster’s first try of the night when the visitors battered Leinster’s line for the best part of two minutes before Andrew Conway strolled over in the corner. But you could see Larkham’s influence over the second-half scores from Keith Earls and Conway again. Decoy runs, deft passes and slick running lines were all on show.
Larkham, for one, was encouraged by what he saw from the coaches’ box.
‘I think we had really good continuity on a number of passages there,’ said the Munster attack coach.
‘Like every team we try and play as quickly as possible before the defence is set and I think there were a number of those passages that occurred throughout the game.
‘In particular, I think the last passage, the last 20 minutes of the game, there were some really good phases that we put together there. There were some really good recycles of the ball, that’s what you talk about JJ (Hanrahan) getting on the front front, having time and making the right decision there. I think that’s what was pleasing for me, the ability to hold the ball and to play with the relative speed that we had.’
This is going to be a big 12 months for JJ Hanrahan and Munster’s last man standing at No10 has thrived under Larkham since he arrived at the province last season.
There is a synergy between their respective playing careers. Larkham played in a number of positions – including full-back and scrum-half – before he found his niche at No10. He would go on to become one of the greatest attacking playmakers of his generation.
The hope is that some of his expertise will rub off on Hanrahan, who is finally looking comfortable as a frontline out-half.
Tyler Bleyendaal’s retirement and Joey Carbery’s injury travails means Hanrahan is now the main man and Larkham is confident he has all the tools to deliver.
‘Firstly, the understanding of the game plan, the work that he does off the field to get himself right and to understand what he needs to move the team around the paddock, but also to make sure he’s making the right decisions on the field.
‘He’s got a very good skillset. His catch, pass, kick is very good – he’s got a very good turn of speed and he’s an extremely accurate goal kicker. I think he’s one of the best goal kickers, the way that he trains with his goal kicking and then the way that he handles pressure on the field is something that I don’t see in a lot of players.’
RG Snyman may be gone for the foreseeable future, but Damian de Allende is still on board and the Springbok’s partnership with Chris Farrell looked potent.
‘I thought Damian was very good,’ Larkham added.
‘He just has time on the ball, so good players generally have time. He has the ability to buy time, so if the rushing defence comes at him, he knows how to control his feet. He had very good hands on the weekend.
‘From a defensive point of view, we got opened up a couple of times but if you look at Damian’s defensive involvement in the breakdown particularly, it was exceptional – he put a lot of pressure on the opposition breakdown, so he adds a number of elements to our game. ‘In terms of Chris, it was definitely one of the best games I’ve seen Chris play. Getting his hands on the ball was key, trying to give him time on the ball as well. He’s obviously a big man but he’s got really good footwork and good power through contact as well. It was the number of touches he got as well. ‘You try to plan for getting your best players ball in hand throughout the game but sometimes it doesn’t eventuate. It eventuated for Chris on the weekend and I think that’s how we saw the quality of player he is. ‘It’s about finding that balance between the two, Damian with his silky skills and Chris with his good ball-carrying skills.’