Munster in a real funk

WE’RE not sure if it was designed to intimidate, but it certainly wows even from the comfort of your own home. It’s a space age sort of place. Everything about it screams money and ambition if not quite the class and elegance for which the French capital is famed.

Down one end of the pitch there’s that massive screen the full width of the playing surface – Europe’s largest screen we read somewhere – as if to ram home the point. Welcome to the future. Paris is the future. Racing 92 are the future.

On the pitch itself Munster gave it one hell of a good go of proving Racing wrong on that point. Fronting up in a brilliant way for most of the match. Super at the line out. Strong at half-back with JJ Hanrahan shaking off his injury to put in a composed performance, but ultimately Munster lacked the wherewithal to finish the job.

Johann Van Graan’s men lacked a little nous to break down Racing as often as they realistically needed to and lacked the depth to hang on to their lead as the clock ticked down and Racing began to run the bench.

Racing’s late blitz was a piece with the surroundings in which it took place. It confirmed that impression that Munster were analogue in a digital world. Teddy Thomas’ finish in the corner following a brilliant kick by Finn Russell was simply outrageous. Nothing Munster could do about that and that’s the thing there’s a real sense of impotency about the place at the moment. There’s this glass ceiling – much like the roof at La Défense – that try hard as they might Munster just cannot crack. It’s down to a lack of talent, a lack of depth and, basically, a lack of resources.

Leinster have the systems and the population and the finances to push on. Munster simply can’t compete with that at the moment, with the glory days of the early part of this century feeling more of an aberration with each passing year. Munster had a golden generation. Leinster have a conveyor belt. That’s the difference. Of course Munster still produce and are still producing some really good talent, just not at the rate they need to. Just look at the number of former Leinster academy players who populate the Munster squad at the moment. Those guys have been invaluable to Munster but are we losing something of the fabric of the place, of what made Munster great by having to rely upon them?