WE’VE GOT A CHANCE

JOHANN VAN GRAAN has explained why he believes his Munster team can take the chances they let slip by in their last two meetings with Leinster.

The Reds boss points to forays into the Leinster 22 and how his players finished attacks with tries but wasted others, particularly in the 13-10 win for the Blues at Thomond Park in January.

“We had some opportunities in the last game to score points just before half-time which we didn’t,” he reflected. “They’re an exceptionally good side and you just have to look at the teams which have beaten them in big games over the last few years - a team like Saracens, they’ve beaten them in some big games.

“They haven’t lost a lot in the PRO14 and that was never when their big guns were playing.

“There’s obviously opportunities across 80 minutes but there’s no weaknesses in that game. You have to be at your absolute best to beat the champions in their backyard.”

But he believes it can be done because he is backing his players to produce the goods under pressure.

‘It’s what we’ve done during the season,” van Graan (above) said.

“You have to learn from what’s happened in previous seasons. We learned a lot about the Thomond

Park game against Leinster which we came up short in by three points.

“Our away record is seven out of eight in the PRO14 this year. We learned a lot out of the Clermont game. It’s about learning your lessons and it’s all about what happens on the day in the final.

“This is a once-off game. Nothing which has happened before in the season matters now. We’ve got to take our opportunities.”