Cloete’s return to fitness and form puts Munster in seven heaven
Cloete’s specialist skills could buck a Munster trend and provide vital missing ingredient
IN 1992 at Musgrave Park, Ger Earls produced one of the great openside performances as Munster humbled the world champion Wallabies 22-19. Earls, disgracefully, never got capped but that afternoon showed Ireland what they were missing with a ferocious, unrelenting, harrying performance against an Australia side (captained by current IRFU performance director David Nucifora) who did not know what hit them.
Twenty six years later, on a very different looking Musgrave Park surface, another Munster openside produced a man of the match display that carried definite echoes of Earls and boded very well for the rest of Munster’s season.
True, last Friday’s early season Pro14 clash against an understrength Ospreys carried none of the profile of a tilt at the Australians but, given it was his first game back since injuring his arm last February, Chris Cloete’s performance was truly remarkable.
The 27-year-old showed zero rustiness in an indefatigable outing that saw him top Munster’s tackle count, make six carries for 25 metres (including one clean break) as well as securing three superb turnovers.
The last stat is key. With lengthy spells in possession now the norm, winning ball off your opponent on the ground is a game-changer in modern rugby and, with the likes of breakdown specialists Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Beirne alongside Cloete, Munster are suddenly among Europe’s elite in this vital area.
Falling very much into the bracket of an old-fashioned, foraging No7, Cloete is something of a trend-bucker at a province that has not had a ‘traditional’ openside starting regularly since the days of Earls.
When the Young Munster man moved aside in the mid-1990s, the No7 jersey was taken on by the likes of Eddie Halvey and Alan Quinlan (both more natural blindsides) before David Wallace made it his own for more than 10 years.
Wallace was a world-class backrow, and no slouch at ruck time, but was renowned more for his powerful carrying than traditional openside qualities.
And, while specialist No7s have featured in the 10 years since Munster last won the European Cup, in the form of Niall Ronan and Sean Dougall, neither ever really cemented their position as first choice.
Tommy O’Donnell has been the most regular openside in the postWallace era (when injury has allowed it) but, like the man he replaced, he would be known as an excellent all-round backrower rather than specialist forager.
Which is why Cloete’s return to fitness and instant form is so encouraging for head coach Johann van Graan.
Regularly likened to Wallabies captain Michael Hooper (arguably, the world’s finest openside) in his physical make-up and style of play, Cloete is perfectly built for the traditional No7 role. Relatively small at 5ft9in, the South African combines phenomenal lower and upper-body strength, meaning that when he plants his legs wide and goes digging for ball, he is almost impossible to budge.
It gives Munster an extra, specialist dimension – something they have lacked, and suffered for, at critical stages of recent seasons.
Such as last April when, with O’Donnell injured, Munster started Jack O’Donoghue at No7 in their Champions Cup semi-final loss to Racing 92. O’Donoghue is a fine talent but more accustomed to playing No6 or No8 – as is Robin Copeland who replaced the Tralee man after 52 minutes.
The previous season, when Munster were knocked out at the same stage by Saracens in Lansdowne Road, O’Donnell was replaced by Jean Deysel, another 6-8 hybrid backrow, after 50 minutes.
And, in 2015-16, when Munster lost their decisive pool game in Leicester, the No7 duties fell to Dave O’Callaghan, who has played the majority of his rugby at blindside or in the second row – before he was replaced at Welford Road by O’Donoghue after 51 minutes.
It has created a pattern, which Cloete could be about to bust.
O’Donnell and O’Donoghue may have the edge in terms of height (for lineout), weight (for scrum) and footballing skills (for link play), but Cloete is out on his own when it comes to out-and-out openside skills.
‘I thought he was superb,’ said
captain O’Mahony following last weekend’s 49-13 romp against the Ospreys. ‘His ability to get over the ball is very impressive. We’ll have to work on some of Chris’s decision-making and timing but the guy has made a huge impact.’ One that could get Munster over the semi-final hump that has driven O’Mahony to distraction in recent seasons.
Out-half may be the marquee position on any rugby team and, as a result, command the most attention but openside flanker is massively significant also.
Just ask the Kiwis, where gnarled No7 Richie McCaw was always given equal billing with their cleancut, hero out-half Dan Carter.
Joey Carbery is grabbing all the headlines since moving south to make the red No10 jersey his own but the indications are the man wearing No7 could turn out to be just as influential.