THE MAIN MAN
Dynamic Casey is Munster’s best option at scrum-half now ahead of Conor Murray and deserves to be...
IT HAS become a familiar sight in recent seasons. When opposition defences are beginning to tire approaching the third quarter, Craig Casey is inevitably summoned from the bench to inject some tempo into Munster’s ranks.
Like a Duracell bunny at the base of the ruck, the 23-year-old Shannon scrum-half plays the game at a furious pace. Casey’s latest cameo came against Cardiff Blues on Friday night. The Welsh strugglers were put to the sword at Musgrave Park, with Casey scoring a brace of tries after he replaced Conor Murray.
Casey has been ripping it up as an impact sub since he burst on the scene in April 2019, but he is becoming a more central player in this Munster squad, particularly this season. He has started 10 games for the province, with a further seven appearances from the bench.
And ahead of the biggest game of the season this weekend, there have been growing calls for him to start against Toulouse. Leaving Murray on the bench for a pivotal Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final would be a huge call,
“Casey is no
rookie, he has five Irish caps”
but it feels like the right one if the province want to slay the French giants at the Aviva Stadium.
Munster simply don’t have the muscle to bully Toulouse’s huge pack, replete with French frontowers Julien Marchand and Cyril Baille as well as the Arnold twins in the second row and a fearsome backrow featuring Les Bleus blindside Francois Cros. Their bench is creaking with heavyweight customers too.
Munster will need to play with pace and width on Saturday. Truthfully, they’ve looked most effective when adopting this approach during this campaign. It’s been more by accident than design — as well as a hefty injury list — but the youngsters in the province’s ranks have broken through in their droves. The likes of Josh Wycherley, Thomas Ahern, Alex Kendellen and Shane Daly have thrived with the extra exposure.
Casey is by no means a rookie these days — with five Ireland caps to his name - but he has revelled with a run of games under his belt.
Murray is the safe selection to face down Antoine Dupont in Dublin. The 33-year-old is a calm, reassuring presence at scrumhalf. A veteran with years of experience at the top level. He is not a spent force, but he is not the same player who terrorised the All Blacks on the 2017 Lions tour. Murray’s running threat is nowhere near the same level. He may have signed a central contract extension with the IRFU last December, but Jamison Gibson-Park has moved ahead in the international pecking order. Casey has been no stranger to training camps in Abbotstown either.
Ireland have embraced an expansive style of play. A key component of such an approach is a razor-sharp scrum-half who can ensure a steady supply of lightningquick ruck ball. Murray does not fit that mould. Tactically, he remains a canny operator and his kicking game is world class. Munster, however, are trying to follow in the national team’s footsteps and evolve their game. If they want to stress opposition defences and move up the gears, Casey is the scrum-half for the job. You feel this changing of the guard is going to happen down the line, maybe next season under Graham Rowntree, but someone needs to make this big call, now. Munster head into this season-defining game shorn of some big names in the pack. Dave Kilcoyne, Tadhg Beirne and Gavin Coombes have all been ruled out of his European encounter with the fivetime champions. If the hosts are to spring a big result, they need to be bold and back their young scrum-half for this one. This operation has looked rejuvenated recently. After some stuttering performances and the drawn-out saga to source Johann van Graan’s successor, things have settled down. Perhaps Rowntree’s in-house promotion and talks of a batch of born and bred Munster men returning to the province as part of a new-look backroom team have galvanised this group?
The gameplan looked scattered for large swathes of this campaign. It has looked finely tuned in recent months. Munster remain a work in progress, but they finally look like a squad which is maturing and heading in the right direction. And that direction is a modern, expansive game plan which suits a youthful, skilful and ambitious squad.
The plan to take on Toulouse is crystal clear. A mobile young pack will be instructed to move their heavier opponents around the park while Joey Carbery will look to get Damian de Allende, Keith Earls and Mike Haley into the game at every available opportunity.
Casey is the ideal candidate to fuse it all together. It would be a huge call and unquestionably the biggest test of the Limerick native’s career to date. Munster need to be brave though. The visitors know exactly what to expect from Murray. Raining box kicks down on Toulouse’s backfield is not going to seal a place in the semi-finals.
The last thing the hosts want to do is give Dupont, Romain Ntamack and Co turnover ball.
The Munster brains trust may feel Casey is best suited to his impact role from the bench.
Then again, Leo Cullen thought the same about Gibson-Park until Andy Farrell started backing the New Zealand-born scrum-half in big games.
Maybe it’s time Munster started thinking the same way.
Back the livewire from the start and send on the experienced campaigner to close it out.