Sarries get ready for a Munstering
ARREN GATLAND will be watching through his fingers when Munster and Saracens go toe to toe in the Champions Cup semi-final in Dublin today.
Eight of Gatland’s Lions squad will feature in front of 51,000 at the Aviva Stadium — and he will be praying they come away unscathed.
Munster are playing in memory of their coach Anthony Foley, whose death at the age of 42 in the team hotel in October has propelled the Irish province to a new level.
Key scrum-half Conor Murray failed a fitness test yesterday, but Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander will lead Munster’s Lions charge, with Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall braced for the intensity of a Test match.
‘The players know what’s coming,’ said McCall. ‘They know what they’re walking into and they’re looking forward to it. Munster are well coached, hard-working and the nature of the occasion – the reference to Anthony – makes them incredibly dangerous.
‘We know we’ll come under pressure but we need to understand that we’re not playing against superhumans just because the crowd are noisy. We’ve got an experienced group and we don’t need to tell them how to suck eggs.’
In 2006, Foley — known affectionately as Axel — captained Munster to their first European title. A decade later, this year’s crop are plotting to lift the trophy in his honour.
‘You look at Axel’s wife Olive and his sons Dan and Tony,’ said Munster prop Dave Kilcoyne. ‘ You can imagine the heartbreak they have gone through, the heartache. If us winning can ease their heartache, if it can put a smile on Olive’s face or if Dan and Tony chat about how their day played for and coached that team; if it gives them any bit of a lift, we want to contribute to that. We’ll always play for Axel here. He was a cornerstone of the club. Any man who gives that much of their life to one club deserves that kind of respect.’
Jerry Flanery has since taken over scrum and lineout coaching.
Acknowledging the strength of Munster’s driving maul — ‘ as good as anybody’s’ — McCall claims England’s Grand Slam heartbreak at the Aviva Stadium last month is very much ‘in the bank’.
O’Mahony and Donnacha Ryan are two of Munster’s setpiece cogs and both spearheaded Ireland’s victory. Memories of O’Mahony plucking an attacking lineout from Maro Itoje’s hands in the dying stages are fresh. ‘The fact our England players were at the Aviva three or four weeks ago is probably a good thing,’ said McCall.
Saracens have developed the belief of the best. Trailing to Northampton with 20 minutes remaining last week, there was inevitability about their comeback, which came with two minutes remaining.
Scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth said: ‘We just want to be known as a resilient and consistent team that turns up every week and does the job.
‘We’ve got an age profile who have grown up playing in — losing or winning — these semi-finals.’
An unsung hero for his club, Wigglesworth will be pivotal.
Munster have spent more time in the opposition 22 than any other team this year but that has largely stemmed from Murray, whose absence could be decisive. Saracens’ biggest challenge? Finding a way past the wall of emotion. A sea of red jerseys is expected from Limerick.
‘I embrace it, love it,’ said Wigglesworth. ‘I’ve played in those sorts of atmospheres before where they are baying for blood. We’ll all play one day in front of one man and his dog and that’s no fun.’