A real test awaits the Red Army in Swansea
Don’t get too carried away until Reds take a few big scalps
TWO wins from two, 14 tries and ten points, and Munster are one point clear of Glasgow Warriors at the top of the Guinness PRO14 Conference A. But going to Liberty Stadium this weekend Rassie Erasmus and his players will know that Ospreys are going to provide a much stiffer test than the lowly Benetton Rugby and Cheetahs.
You can’t review the win over Cheetahs without highlighting the achievement of Alex Wootton. He’s the first Munster player to score four tries in a game since Mike Mullins against Caerphilly in 2001, and it’s a huge step forward for him.
Fine, the opposition might not have been up to scratch, but we know Wootton is a proven finisher because we saw that last year in the ‘A’ games towards the end of last season.
It’s early days yet, Wootton has bags of potential and you can only play what’s in front of you and he shone. He had to work very hard for a couple of the tries and that shows how far he has come after preseason.
There is an embarrassment of riches in the Munster back three right now. And even someone like Simon Zebo coming back in knows he can’t have a quiet game. Zeebs finished his try exceptionally well as only he could, while Munster still have Keith Earls to come back too.
Up front, Munster did a lot of damage in the scrum early on against Cheetahs. Young loosehead prop Liam O’Connor is doing stellar work in the scrums again.
We don’t know how strong Cheetahs are relative to other teams but you have got to be impressed with Munster’s pack. The South Africans generally are a big, strong outfit. They are usually not pushovers and in that area, the maul and the breakdown was a big one as well – Munster countered them and turned Cheetahs over.
Munster were very clinical throughout the game. They did let Cheetahs back in with penalties, and off restarts as well. It’s just about keeping the defensive line intact but on the whole the defence was really solid.
DEFENCE
The first time that the Cheetahs had the ball for any period of time, early in the game, Munster pushed them back with their defence. They used the defence as an attacking tool. Munster have little areas to brush up on and going forward you want to tick all of the boxes but Rassie, Jacques Nienaber, Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones must be pleased with Rounds 1 and 2.
Saying all that you could liken this scenario to a team going into a final having had an easy semi-final – Munster will obviously have prepared adequately but travelling to Swansea will be a huge step up in class now.
It’s always preferable to have had a tough test the week before going into a game like this because it certainly sharpens the mind. You get used to the intensity.
You can be playing a Sevens-style rugby one week and then it’s back to the more conventional type out of the blue in the following round and that’s what likely for Munster in Round 3.
Ospreys have lost one and won one, they beat Zebre in week one and lost to Glasgow last weekend. Glasgow is a hard place to go and they will learn from that.
I remember seeing Ospreys’ 22-13 scoreline against Zebre in week one, and thinking that’s not great. But if you look through the Ospreys team, they still have plenty of star names there.
They have bags of experienced and talented players. Ospreys have the potential to be a really strong team in the Guinness PRO14 and Champions Cup again this season. Munster hammered them 23-3 in the PRO12 semi-finals last season but Ospreys still finished fourth.
However, not getting a bonus point at home to Zebre and then getting a drubbing at Glasgow, you wonder where their mindset is. They are not that far off but they haven’t kicked into gear yet this season and Munster would be hoping they can stall that for another week.
It’s important Munster win. There is confidence flowing around the squad but it’s uncertain too because Munster don’t know how good their opposition has been. A win at Ospreys will prove their form is right up there.
They are currently top of Conference A after two games with a maximum points haul and they’re averaging seven tries a game – things couldn’t be going much better for Munster right now but a win over Ospreys will be another massive fillip.