Nul points in Cork a warning Munster will need to heed
Van Graan knows that unbeaten Exeter’s impressive pressure game is highly effective at squeezing the life out of opponents
IN THE late summer of 2009, London Irish arrived in Dublin for a pre-season clash with Leinster.
Normally these are forgettable affairs, but it was clear from the outset that the Exiles were on a mission and Donnybrook witnessed a tetchy, highly physical encounter out of keeping with the time of the year.
The teams had been drawn in the same European pool and the visitors knew they’d be back in Dublin a couple of months later for the real deal. Having won the dress rehearsal 24-8, they returned to the RDS in October and won another tough battle 12-9.
One of Johann van Graan’s favourite phrases revolves around going “back to zero” after every match and he didn’t have to go far back in August when Exeter Chiefs came to Irish Independent Park for a pre-season game and left with a 12-0 win.
Like the 2009 meeting of Leinster and Irish, it had far more significance than a run-of-the-mill warm-up game.
Exeter named a stronger team than the locals who were waiting on the return of their internationals and they made their superiority count by holding the ball through long phases, forcing Munster into tackle after tackle before finally making their pressure count.
They routinely turn down points to go to the corner, suffocating opponents when they get in the ’22.
Since their visit to Cork, they have gone six from six in the English Premiership; collecting try scoring bonus points against Leicester, Wasps, Sale, Worcester and Bath.
“We got a good feel for what their game-plan is which is a good thing,” Jean Kleyn, who played that night,
‘It will be a seminal game for both teams in the European campaign’
said. “We have come up against them and we have got a good measure of them so will see how this weekend goes.
“We’ve done a lot of review on them, the coaches have been looking at them for a while and we’ve been reviewing them this week.
“We have a game-plan, we know what they’re going to bring, it’s how we cope, how we impose our gameplan on them.”
Although Leinster were their pri- mary focus last weekend, Van Graan’s coaching team did start reviewing Exeter to be ready to roll out a plan on Monday.
And the South African has made sure to review Leinster’s back-toback wins over the 2017 Premiership champions during last season’s pool. Few other opponents caused the Blues as many problems as the Devonshire side.
“We have,” he said when asked if he’d reviewed those December clashes.
“You’ve got to defend really well. You’ve got to figure out the wind there. They’re a team that when they’re against the wind, they just keep the ball, and keep the ball, and keep the ball.
“We know their maul is going well and even in the game last night, even though they’re close they can just punish you.
“And I’ve said in the pre-season they’re close to the best attacking side in the world.
“We’ve known exactly what they do. It’s in their DNA. They’ve come a long way as a club. Last year they were also in a pretty difficult pool, and they got knocked out by the eventual champions. So we know it’s going to be a massive game for us.”
Against Leinster, Munster held on to the ball for long phases and forced their hosts into tackle after tackle.
At Sandy Park, they’ll have to be comfortable without the ball.
“We got a good taste of it against Ulster,” Kleyn said.
“There was a good few phases when we didn’t have the ball.
“Our defence was really good, we are improving week by week in terms of our defence and we will get more comfortable without the ball. I think we are defending very well and now it gets to the stage where we force them to cough up the ball, which is coming.
“Exeter have conceded the least amount of tries and they have scored the most tries so they’re very good side and I think on the day I think it’s going to come down to physically
dominating them between the four white lines, that’s probably where a lot of games are win.
“We would love to do that but it’s about discipline as well.
“They look for you, when they defend a lot of phases, they want you to cough it up, to make a mistake and also their attack they will attack and attack and attack and wait for you to make a mistake and that is where the capitalise.
“So it’s all about discipline for us, not just penalties but also discipline in defence, making your tackles, getting up, reloading, so I’d say there will be a lot of focus on that this week.”
Facing off against in-form English sides has been meat and drink to Munster over the years and although they have yet to win away from home this season, they have a tradition of stepping up the intensity levels when Europe rolls around.
The two teams have never met in European competition, but the Chiefs are fully aware of the stakes.
“The Munster game will be a bit of a defining game and we will get a result,” long-standing director of rugby Rob Baxter said.
“I think it will be a seminal game for both teams in the European campaign.
“We are looking to get a result against a very good European side at home to give us momentum going into the campaign.
“Obviously, Munster will feel they can put a big mark down in the group by coming over to England and getting the points they need.
“I think for both sides think it’s going to be a key fixture in this European campaign,”
It’s a daunting opening trip, but Munster forewarned about what is coming their way.