THIS SAINT OVER YET..
Munster boss Rowntree vows to right wrongs before Reds face Northampton in knockouts
MUNSTER boss Graham Rowntree vows his Reds will produce a big performance at Franklin’s Gardens when these sides meet again in the last 16 of the Champions Cup.
With the Six Nations separating the final pool clash at Thomond Park and the knockout encounter, Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson fully expects Rowntree’s prediction will come true.
Minutes after the Premiership leaders had stopped celebrating in the rain, Dowson was asked about the possibility of his team facing Munster again. “We’ll know they’ll have a big axe to grind and will come after us,” he said.
It was the third time in the pool stages that Munster contrived to let a winning position slip.
And this one hurt more than the home draw against Bayonne or the comeback victory for
Exeter at Sandy Park.
It used to be the Reds who would thrive when conditions got tough.
Northampton were reduced to 13 men for a period before and after half-time and yet, with
Curtis Langdon deservedly sent off after his knee made contact with Tom Ahern’s face, it was the Saints who finished the stronger in front of the disbelieving home crowd.
Rowntree conceded his team lost their way in the second half, despite holding a 10-point lead with 17 minutes to go.
Disappointed as he was, however, he was bullish about his team’s chances in the knockouts. “We don’t do it easy, in fact we’re bang on schedule,” Rowntree deadpanned.
After all, the province went to Scotstoun, to the Aviva Stadium and to Cape Town in the URC play-offs on their way to becoming champions last May.
Speaking after the game, Rowntree didn’t know yet if Munster’s destination was going to be Bordeaux, Leinster or Northampton.
“Wherever, wherever,” he shrugged. “This club, we’ve proven we can go wherever and win. We’ll take that when it comes.”
The Reds boss was also asked if he believed that there is a big away performance in his side. “Yes, actually we do,” he replied. “We’ve proven that. We’re going to lick our wounds and look at it in the cold light of day.
“Kicking the ball off at the end there, we need to keep the ball on the field. We just kept giving them more lineouts to kill the game – moments like that we’ve got to look at, get better.
“It’s hugely frustrating as this is the last time that group is going to be together for a while. We’ve got guys going away on international duty.
“We’ve got a huge game for the club in Pairc Ui Chaoimh against the Crusaders soon enough then we’re into the URC.
“There’s a lot of rugby coming up but we’ll be split. It’s unfortunate. We’ve got to be better than some of the stuff we were doing. We’ve got to learn.”
Saturday was the end of a 13game block for the Reds. They have been hugely inconsistent but have suffered a lot of injuries and Rowntree will hope to have a number of frontliners back come that Saints trip in the first week of April.
“I’m not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he stated. “We’ve done a body of great work this season and got some great men coming through. I won’t panic. We’re into the round of 16. It was inevitable we were going to have to go somewhere.”