David Corkery
Just when we thought that Munster had hit the bottom of the pit and their troubles couldn’t become any more gangrenous, up pops another woeful performance that brings them to depths never previously envisioned.
May I just remind people that Saturdays latest humiliation against the Exeter Chiefs wasn’t even in the elite section of Europe.
In lay man’s terms, the Challenge Cup is the B section of European Cup rugby, and when you find yourself walking off the pitch at half-time with the score board reading 31 points to nil, it paints a very bleak picture as to where exactly you stand.
A couple of weeks ago the so called brains behind this once mighty organisation announced they were implementing a cost saving strategy by looking for voluntary redundancies for their non playing staff. Well may I be as bold to suggest that they now extend this scheme to the players as well because they are nowhere near good enough to be playing at this level, not to mention the level above.
May I also suggest that they consider their own positions which has to start at the top and work its way down the chain of command. Asking for non-playing staff to resign from their positions who have zero impact as to what happens on the pitch is nothing but a spineless way of trying to hide behind their own failings.
Letting staff go who organise travel, answer phones, wash gear, cut the grass, coach kids or cook food will have no impact whatsoever to the results that the senior players produce on the field of play. In fact it will probably make things a hell of a lot worse because without these people who work tirelessly at the coal face of the sport, the entire structure becomes a very fragile entity.
The waiting game for Munster to reinvent themselves is now well and truly over and unless the IRFU who run Munster rugby take their finger out and look at rebuilding from top to bottom, not only will the province continue to decline, but the National team will also suffer.
Even with all of the provinces Irish internationals back to bolster the team this week, Clayton McMillin and his players still got thought a lesson when it came to power, skill and game management, and if we are to be very honest, if the hosts were to have taken all the chances they were gifted, the score would have been a hell of a lot worse.
Okay, you might argue that Munster won the second half by three tries to nil, but when you are so far ahead and you know the game is no longer a viable contest your focus starts to waiver and the game plan that is drilled into you becomes a very loose document.
Because of the ruthless and clinical ways that Exeter converted the majority of the opportunities they were afforded into scores in the first half, I’d be fairly certain, that if they did have the need to up their second half performance, they could have easily done so.
Apart from Jack Crowley, Tadhg Beirne, Alex Nankivell and Ben O’Connor there was no other Munster player on the field that would come within touching distance of making Exeter’s match day twenty three.
Probably what surprised me the most was the physical dominance that the premiership side displayed over their guests.
In attack, the Exeter backs, especially wingers Paul Brown-Bampoe and Immanuel Feyi-Wabose, left shades of Jonah Lomu trailing behind them as they steamrolled over Munster’s pitiful attempts to halt their advances.
Just before the halftime whistle was sounded, Feyi-Wabose scored the kind of try that you might only see once in every season and at just twenty three years of age, it won’t be too long before he adds a few more international caps to the baker’s dozen he already has to his name.
The Munster backrow were also completely outplayed on this occasion and I don’t know how much more time players like Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin Coombes should be given as first choice starters.
Coombes may have all the physical attributes that are needed to becoming a world class player, but if you don’t have that little bit of dog in you that makes opposing players dread the thought of playing against you, your status will never change from good to great.
Edwin Edogbo was also a big disappointment for me. I’d really like to think that Edogbo will live up to all the hype that surrounded his much deserved cameo in the Six Nations however, on this occasion he was no where to be seen and that is just not good enough.
With Munster currently lying in seventh place in the URC table and only four games remaining in the normal season (Benneton (A), Ulster (H), Connacht (A) and the Emirates Lions (H) – every game from here on in is a cup final.
Finish outside the top eight and that means no Champions Cup next year and if that were happen God only knows where the province could end up.
Are Munster now the new Connacht of Irish rugby?
Unfortunately the answer is yes.