Van Graan happy with recruits and intensity

NEIL CRONIN and Alby Mathewson aside, Friday’s hammering of Ospreys in Cork was Johann van Graan’s first chance to see all of his new faces on the pitch from the start and the South African was happy with how the recruits went.

Joey Carbery grabbed headlines with a try; Tadhg Beirne had legitimate claims to rival Man of the Match Chris Cloete; Arno Botha also crossed for his first score and Mike Haley was solid, if unspectacular, at full-back.

The understrength Welsh region didn’t put up too much resistance, but there was a lot to like about the way the new men performed.

“Tadhg has got some free rein to play his game, he’s the one forward we give licence to try things because he is just that type of player,” Van Graan (above) said.

“Arno has been enormous over this first three weeks, Joey has imposed himself pretty quickly, he’s had three very good performances.

“That step off his right foot, kicking with his left; that try – not so much the try itself, but the fact that he read it was pretty impressive.

“And Mike, from a positional point of view, we’re very happy with how he is communicating. I think he needs one magic moment to open up the defence, but hopefully it will come when we really need it.”

Prop John Ryan was the chief concern after limping off with knee and ankle issues, while Stephen Archer suffered a head injury and will go through the concussion protocols.

Munster take on Cardiff away on Friday and Van Graan wants them to attack with the same intensity they brought to the Ospreys win.

“The first 40 was our best 40 (so far),” he said.

“We defended well, we mauled well, we scrummed well, we attacked very well. On both sides of the ball on turnovers we reacted well. It’s something that we can definitely build on next week.”