As another Munster season spluttered to an anti-climactic halt with last Friday’s ragged display in Belfast, the thought occurred that Johann van Graan, Stephen Larkham and JP Ferreira had all been offered two-year extensions in the middle of the season and were absolutely of a mind to stay.
Munster had begun the season with a four-game winning run and in response to their aborted South African trip at the end of November when their squad was divided into three separate entities, their patchwork amalgam of Test players and academy debutants earned that thrilling win away to Wasps. One of the season’s most memorable days.
This sparked another four-game winning run as Munster secured a third seeding in Pool B of the Champions Cup with four wins out of four, although by that stage van Graan had decided to take up the option of becoming director of rugby at Bath – a sure case of the frying pan to the fire albeit the only way is up for Bath. They are also acquiring a more experienced coach than the one Munster brought in to replace Rassie Erasmus half-way through the 2017-18 season.
Van Graan, like Larkham and Ferreira, is a decent man who was wholly committed to the Munster cause. Andy Farrell, Dan McFarland and, evidently, David Nucifora, among others, hold him in the highest esteem. But being Munster head coach has its difficulties, with all sorts of masters to deal with, be it Nucifora, the Munster CEO, various reiterations of the Munster Professional Game Board and the influential group of private backers known as the 1014 group.
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Apparently, the latter went so far as to write to the Munster hierarchy questioning various selection issues, among other critiques, and word is this missive was shown to van Graan, which can only have encouraged him to move on. Who needs that? This meant Ferreira moved on with him, while Larkham was offered the head coaching job with the Brumbies and had familial reasons for returning to Canberra.
Munster’s season still had more highs to come, not least the gritty two-legged win over Exeter and that 24-all draw with Toulouse in the quarter-finals, when the loss of Peter O’Mahony for the endgame and extra time was a cruel blow. Van Graan has been unlucky, particularly in effectively losing RG Snyman for both of the last two seasons and other big ball-carriers such as Damian de Allende and Gavin Coombes at various junctures in the season.
Yet, sad to say, the back-to-back defeats by the Leinster second string and Ulster last Friday have added an unflattering postscript to the van Graan era and suggests that a reboot under Graham Rowntree, Mike Prendergast and Denis Leamy, not least given his insight into the coaching mechanisms at Leinster, is probably best for the province.
Now it is again conventional wisdom, with the benefit of hindsight too, that van Graan should have been released when his intention to leave was made known. Really? Not many were saying that when Munster were overcoming Exeter. What would it have achieved besides heaping more work on the existing staff, including Larkham and Ferreira, who were also moving on as well?
Besides, if Rowntree had overseen the last two games, he would have been seen as more damaged goods too. Putting last Friday’s performance into words was better left to the departing van Graan than the incoming Rowntree.
“Massively disappointing to end our season like this. Nothing more to be said.”
“The last two performances – from a club point of view – haven’t been good enough. That’s the disappointing thing, to finish off the season like this.”
Six years on and two days out in the Aviva effectively did for their season again. How Munster fans must hate the place
The first quote was Mick O’Driscoll after Munster lost 45-10 to the Ospreys in the Magners League semi-final a decade ago, four weeks after they lost to Ulster in a Champions Cup quarter-final at Thomond Park, and marked Tony McGahan’s last game in charge. The second was van Graan last Friday night.
There have been plenty of examples of a post-Euro hangover under every Munster coach since then, be it Rob Penny, Anthony Foley or Rassie Erasmus, whose widely acclaimed full season in charge ended with a 46-22 defeat in the Pro12 final by the Scarlets when returning to the Aviva scene of the crime where they had lost a European semi-final to Saracens four weeks previously.
Six years on and two days out in the Aviva effectively did for their season again. How Munster fans must hate the place. Yet were it not for the Munster Branch giving Thomond Park over to Ed Sheeran concerts conceivably their team could have had both a European quarter-final and semi-final at Thomond Park. On the pitch, the team had it within their power to ensure the same in the URC. How differently their season might have looked then.
Munster’s problems go way deeper than the coaching ticket, be it the organisation off the pitch, not to mention the constant and odious comparisons with Leinster, while the players have to take some responsibility as well. Last Friday’s display betrayed mental issues, perhaps in adapting to a European exit and having a Leinster-like winning mentality, for the travelling Munster supporters deserved better.
But last Friday strongly suggested that Munster are not even the second best team in Ireland any more.
Afterwards it was instructive to listen to James Hume, who had played superbly. He reflected on Ulster’s poor game management when contriving to lose against a Munster side reduced to 14 men due to Simon Zebo’s 15th-minute red card in January and when lacking energy in their home defeat by Munster a week after their own post-Euro exit to Toulouse six weeks ago.
“But we know from watching video reviews and doing our homework that we’re so much better than them and as a backline tonight we just tried to do what we do. Everything game off.”
Ouch.
Yet, indeed, whereas Ulster put together a couple of superbly worked set-piece tries through their well-choreographed backs, by contrast Munster’s launch plays or preplanned phased attacks kept faltering on handling errors and disconnections.
When the former Wallabies outhalf and Leinster attack coach David Knox was in his pomp with the Brumbies, on days when they filleted their rivals the Waratahs apparently he was wont to chide his opponents thus: “What do you guys do on the training paddock?”
Last Friday’s performance again suggested that Munster’s training in their UL HPC lacks the tempo, intensity and accuracy demanded in UCD by a certain squad in blue. There’s talent in that squad, with a good crop coming through, albeit they could do with some frontrow re-enforcements. But starting next pre-season, Rowntree, Prendergast, Leamy et al need to get ruthless.
