David Corkery
A narrow loss, but a performance that screams of positivity and much needed evolution.
Apart from the players themselves, I doubt it very much that anyone would disagree with me when I say that the odds of Munster winning this year’s European Cup would be pretty modest.
In their squad they are still missing four or five more players who when the pressure comes on, they are robust and experienced enough to make the right calls, at the right time and in the right areas of the field.
Up to now Munster’s performances have been riddled with unforced errors and the level of consistency that they have produced has been well below what is needed to challenge the bigger boys however, what we’ve seen in the last few weeks has painted a picture of optimism and progression.
Last weekend in Limerick a good Saracens side were sent packing and on Saturday Ian Costello and his players despite losing, performed like a side that had a clear and precise game plan.
There is still a considerable hill to climb for the men in the red jerseys or faded pink that they wear these days, but now it seems there is an intense flicker of light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel and because of the calamity of things that have happened off the field, this flicker is something we can be thankful of.
Yes, I am fully cognisant that there have been many false dawning’s with Munster over the last fifteen years, but what gives me so much hope this time is the quality of the youth that is starting to stand up and be counted.
To name but a few it is so refreshing to see the likes of Tom Ahern, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Brian Gleeson, Calvin Nash, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Jack Crowley, Shane Daly, Craig Casey and the explosive John Hodnett look so settled on the pitch.
Long gone are the days of these players waiting to be told what they need to do by the likes of Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony. Yes, they will always need leadership and guidance, but the professional game we see played today doesn’t really have time for players to evolve.
The youngsters of today must either sink or swim and prove themselves very quickly otherwise the ruthlessness of professional sport will chew them up and spit them out.
What’s missing amongst the names mentioned above is a core of front row players who are capable of giving the likes of Crowley and Patterson a solid supply of clean first phase ball.
Stephen Archer 36, Niall Scannell 32 and John Ryan 36 have been incredible servants of the game and can still do a solid job, but there is only so many oil changes a front row player can receive before the engine starts to seize and spits out the fatal black smoke.
The margins for error in the modern game are so small now that all it takes is for two or three microscopic mistakes to occur and the opposition will ruthlessly expose you as a result and that is exactly what happened during Saturdays game.
For me the turning point in this titanic contest was when Gavin Coombes was yellow card on the stroke of half time.
During this ten minute period Northampton managed to cross Munster’s white wash on two occasions and apart from giving them ascendency on the score board it also allowed for their very passionate sixteenth man to become a major player in this game.
One of the most important things you must do when you are playing away from home is to silence the home support and conceding two successive tries, one just before half time and one just after is not the way to do it.
Again what was very pleasing was the way Munster never stopped playing and in the end all that separated the two sides was a measly two points.
In what you could only call a mini bomb squad Munster introduced four substitutions including an entire new front row on the 50th minute and it didn’t have the kind of impact that you might expect however, what did have a massive bearing in the closing quarter was the introduction of Northampton’s flanker Henry Pollock.
Like a coiled spring Pollock who just turned 20 four days before the game was incredible and will undoubtably be a name to watch out for in the future.
I was delighted for Munster’s debutant winger Diarmuid Kilgallen who managed to score two tries in the game.
Jack Crowley also had a great day in the office and I would like to think that one day very soon he will wear the captains armband for both province and country.
Because of the loss Munster will now be on the road for their last sixteen tie for the third year on the bounce. It’s not the end of the world, but a home tie on the first weekend in April would have been something to really look forward to.
Next up for Munster is a return to the URC and it is imperative that they continue to learn from their mistakes and evolve as they have in recent weeks.
At long last something positive to report on.