SALVATION LIES WITHIN
Van Graan is in dire need of a lift and his crop of young talent could provide it...
JOHANN VAN GRAAN was talking a good game earlier this week. As has often been the case since the South African replaced his compatriot Rassie Erasmus as Munster head coach midway through the 2017/18 season, Van Graan was trying to put a positive spin on yet another failure.
The most recent loss against Leinster in that ill-fated Pro14 semi-final last month was perhaps the most galling yet. Van Graan and his squad came in for plenty of criticism for the manner of his team’s performance in the wake of that 13-3 loss.
It was definitely a contest for the purist with Leo Cullen just one of several Leinster coaches citing the visitors’ tactic of box-kicking the game to death.
Van Graan, in that measured way of his, responded to all of that criticism earlier this week by citing the performance of Saracens against the same opposition a few weeks later, the English side securing victory while deploying almost identical tactics to Munster.
Whatever about Munster’s negative approach against Leinster on
“We have got guys who can be special”
the night, the main criticism was that the province did not have the artillery to carry out such an operation. In essence, Munster parked the bus against Leinster while Saracens stuck a tank in the middle of Aviva Stadium.
They have parked that defeat now and hope springs eternal for this new campaign, beginning against a strong Scarlets side this afternoon.
This is year four of the Van Graan regime and he needs to deliver this time around.
He made a good fist of defending those stone- age tactics l ast time out, but this Munster squad — and the fanbase — need to see some growth and development this season.
And Van Graan sounded an optimistic note again this week by backing the crop of youngsters who have graduated out of the academy in recent years.
‘We believe that we’ve got a very good crop of youngsters coming through that will not only play in those games but will perform in those games, because there’s a big difference between being selected and actually performing in a big game,’ he said.
‘I don’t want to name-drop certain guys — but someone like John Hodnett will definitely come close to our starting European team.,’ said the Munster coach.
‘Someone like Craig Casey, Ben Healy, Jack Crowley and Jake Flannery, we’ve added to the squad with Roman Salanoa, Keynan Knox a year further along the line. Matt Gallagher is with the team, someone like Liam Coombes performed on the weekend.
‘You have got guys who can be really special players but need a bit more time like Thomas Ahern.
‘We believe that we are improving not only the academy group, but the squad.
‘So we’d like to believe from a playing group, that we’re better equipped a year on.’
If anything, that youth policy is going to be forced on the Munster coaching team over the next six months.
The likes of Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Chris Farrell, Andrew Conway and Keith Earls will be away on international duty across late October, November and some of December. Likewise, Damian de Allende with South Africa.
Craig Casey gets his opportunity today, but that is very much down to Murray’s thigh issue which has sidelined him since the Leinster game. Van Graan will have to back more of the kids in the months ahead. No harm either.
Fineen Wycherley and Gavin Coombes have the size and attitude to cope at this level Ditto, Jack O’Sullivan and Hodnett.
Ben Healy looks like an interesting No10 while Jack Crowley could be a star.
We eagerly await a first senior appearance for Thomas Ahern at senior level.
Still, Casey’s promotion is a step in the right direction.
The Limerick-born scrum-half — one of only a handful of Treaty natives in the current setup — is only 21 but is fully deserving of his start. Casey was restricted to cameos off the bench last term but he looks to have all the raw material to thrive at this level.
He certainly has the right attitude. It was telling during the intero-pro derbies that you could hear Casey from high up in the stands. He was on bench duty for those early games but the shrill of the Shannon man offering words of encouragement from the touchl i ne was audible throughout. Casey has that on-field narkiness that serves him well when barking out orders to hi s pack of forwards.
He’s a very different player to Murray as well.
Munster won’t be deploying the box-kick option much this afternoon, that’s for sure.
Casey’s talents reside elsewhere. A sniping, effervescent presence at the base of the ruck, he looks made for Stephen Larkham’s fastpaced, offloading game-plan which has been unboxed and quickly returned to the shelf at frustrating intervals over the past 12 months.
Players like Casey are the future now. In a squad struggling for confidence, he is part of a new generation which knows what it’s like to win.
Players like him have already won a Six Nations Grand Slam at Under 20 level and Munster need more of that fearless endeavour that has defined the national team at underage level.
Getting more locals into the team can only be a good thing for the culture and the brand as whole as well.
It is fast coming up on 10 years since the province last won a trophy and the team that grew i nto a major European f orce through the late 1990s and early 2000s was rooted in local produce, adorned by high quality imports.
They have moved away from that approach but there is homegrown talent to tap into again and, after pursuing a policy in recent years of sourcing talent from outside the province — primarily via Leinster and South Africa — it is time for Munster to back their own again.
As the pressure grows on Van Graan, he may just find that salvation lies within.