JOHANN JUST ABOUT AVOIDS A CRASH..
Munster 20
Connacht 18
DEREK FOLEY JOHANN VAN GRAAN avoided a week of questions over his leadership as Munster scraped a win over Connacht at Thomond Park.
Faith in Joey Carbery at out-half, essentially central to the JVG plan, came within an ace of back-firing on the South African.
Unconvincing for most of the game, Carbery may have set up the try that got the Reds in 7-6 ahead at half-time.
But he was at fault 11 minutes from time when he had a routine clearance blocked.
Connacht’s No.10 Jack Carty made the blockdown then gathered the ball to score before adding the conversion to leave his side five points ahead.
A Diarmuid Barron try two minutes from time saved the Reds’ bacon, with Carbery converting for the win.
“In every match, especially when you are a No.10, you’ve got up and down moments,” said van Graan of Carbery’s erratic performance.
“The important thing for him mentally is that he stayed in the game and that is the sign of a class player.
“We saw that late on when he made that conversion.
“It is a 23-man game and it took everyone to get us into that position.”
As margins went, it should be noted Carty missed a relatively simple conversion, hitting the post following an earlier Paul Boyle try.
And it is clear van Graan’s margins are narrowing, not least in regard to the out-of-sorts Carbery.
Simply put, Ben Healy looks the in-form Munster No.10.
The Reds are away at Ospreys next Saturday before a travelling double-header to the Bulls and Lions in late November and early December, with both games to be played at lung-burning altitude.
Munster’s opening Heineken Cup games follow – away at Wasps and home to Castres.
Ospreys, Bulls, Lions, Wasps (all away) followed by Castres at home all before Christmas dinner. With such a tough run of fixtures to come, it’s imperative van Graan chooses his No.10 wisely.
For now though, and on a far more pleasant plus side, the table doesn’t lie.
Munster won on the night, their fourth URC win from four, a result van Graan can take to the bank.
“It was a very physical interpro,” accepted the South African.
“Both sides gave it all they got and while I’m thrilled that we won, small margins determined the result.
“That’s the beauty of Irish rugby. We weren’t accurate enough in the first half specifically.
“But good teams score when it matters and the try before half-time was a big moment.
“We had a very strong wind in the second half and from a territory point of view we managed it pretty well.
“We managed to come back from the charge down and finish the game pretty well.”