Rewind to Saturday, May 7th and Munster had earned themselves a “home” Champions Cup quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium against reigning champions Toulouse. In front of an impassioned 40,000-plus crowd as the Red Army invaded Dublin, they lost, as it were, after a 24-all draw and extra-time by dint of a goal-kicking competition which the five-time winners won 4-2. It was the most honourable exit Munster could have hoped for and, perhaps, a blessing in disguise.
After all, a week later Leinster beat Toulouse 40-17, albeit the latter’s exertions in overcoming Munster may have contributed to their demise. Considering Munster then lost to a second-string Leinster a week later by 35-25 when they needed a win, or just two points in fact, for a home URC quarter-final, there’s no telling what embarrassment a full-strength Leinster might have heaped upon them in a European semi-final.
Munster, lest we forget, had earned that quarter-final by dint of completing four pool wins out of four against Wasps and Castres, eventual French Championship finalists, before overcoming Exeter in a two-legged Round of 16 tie.
Yet, even so, since that quarter-final against Toulouse, Munster have lost five of their ensuing six competitive games, and that discounts the two pre-season defeats at home by Gloucester and London Irish. What’s more, their sole win since that day was at home to Zebre, who, for all the overhaul of their playing squad last summer and improved ambition, have lost 24 of their last 25 URC matches and were understrength. Even then, of course, Munster failed to register a bonus point despite scoring their third try in the 25th minute and despite having done so in their previous 11 meetings with Zebre.
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After losing to Leinster in their final regular-season URC game, Munster were beaten 36-17 by Ulster in the URC quarter-finals at the Kingspan Stadium to bring a desultory end to Johann van Graan’s tenure, which despite Graham Rowntree assuming the head coach role with a new ticket, has continued into this season.
Munster have lost away to Cardiff (whom they had beaten in their previous six encounters), the Dragons (whom they had beaten eight times in a row) and Connacht.
There have been mitigating factors, albeit in part of their own making, such as a disrupted pre-season when affording the squad a week off prior to the week of that first game against Cardiff. A plethora of injuries, especially to the back three where Mike Haley, Keith Earls, Andrew Conway and Simon Zebo are all hors de combat, was compounded by having nine players on the Emerging Ireland tour, not including Alex Kendellen after the injured backrower was originally selected, and which perhaps disrupted Munster the most of the four provinces.
Last week former player Alan Quinlan asked on social media if patience among the faithful was required and judging by the response to himself and Niamh Briggs on The Red 78 podcast, there are those prepared to keep the faith.
But then again, what choice is there? They can hardly sack Rowntree and co already. This is not the Premier League. The new ticket deserves time. Leo Cullen and Pat Lam, among others, had difficult first seasons before their methods bore fruit and silverware followed.
Back in 2010-11, Leinster lost three out of their first four games, all also away to Glasgow, Treviso and Edinburgh, under Joe Schmidt. True, Schmidt could summon Cian Healy, Seán O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip for their first starts of the season, as well as Johnny Sexton off the bench for his seasonal reappearance, when they beat Munster at the Aviva in round five.
There’s an increasing acceptance among Munster supporters that this squad is probably not equipped to end an 11-year trophy drought, especially given the increased competitiveness of both the URC and Champions Cup, and a season competing in the Challenge Cup campaign might offer the best opportunity to win silverware.
There is a danger of that coming to pass, but it would surely be another damaging blow to a loss-making organisation, not least in attracting players, given a Challenge Cup would hardly make European days or nights any more alluring. Au contraire.
The Cork-based supporters, it would appear, feel thoroughly disconnected as it is, and the problem about the 27,000 capacity Thomond Park is that while it satisfied demand at the time – especially for big European nights – when less than half-full it can have a hollow feel.
Perhaps this is all chickens coming home to roost, all the more so since the retirement of the late and sadly missed former chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald, who was the glue that held the disparate groups of the organisation together, be it the Limerick and Cork factions, the various iterations of the Munster Professional Game Board and the influential group of private backers known as the 1014 group.
Apparently, last season 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. The coach later used an escape clause in his new two-year deal with the IRFU and opted to take up an offer with Bath.
He took JP Ferreira with him, as well as Matt Gallagher and Chris Cloete, while singing Quinn Roux from Toulon, and having won five of 24 Premiership matches last season, Bath have lost their first five this season. Eh, from the frying pan to the fire?
Whatever about his legacy and coaching appointments, watching even the Munster scrum shunted back and disintegrate in conceding two early penalties in the Sportsground, with their maul also losing some of its edge, Munster supporters also wonder about some of the province’s recent transfer business.
From either a Munster or Irish perspective, it never made sense that James Cronin, now starring regularly for Leicester, was released, nor for that matter John Ryan. While Munster have been unlucky with the desperately unfortunate RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins has almost started more games and played more minutes for Leinster already than he did in the entirety of last season with Munster, when eight of his 10 appearances were off the bench.
Darren Sweetnam was let go at 27. Conor Oliver was released after being restricted to three starts in his last two seasons with Munster, on foot of which he played 39 games in his first two full seasons with Connacht.
Munster supporters will also have noticed that Eoghan Barrett, the pacy 22-year-old winger from Ballincolig RFC and CBC Cork, scored his fourth Top 14 try for Pau and first of the season last week away to Racing 92. Overlooked by the Munster academy, James Coughlan brought him into the Pau academy and after three years there he’s now in the second of a two-year pro contract, which could see him brought home given Mike Prendergast must be fully aware of him.
Recall too how Thomond Park, despite the European quarter-final weekends being known, was given over to Ed Sheeran concerts, and therefore wasn’t an option for the Toulouse tie.
True, this was to establish Thomond Park as a concert venue and additional source of badly-needed revenue. Even so, a Covid-related dispensation would also have permitted Munster to host a semi-final in Limerick a week later against Leinster had they beaten Toulouse. But due to the Sheeran concerts, they’d have had to move that tie to Dublin as well, which was possibly a sleight to Munster fans best avoided.
The IRFU’s problem child, from the outside Munster look like an organisation who could do with someone like Conor O’Shea to come in and apply a root and branch overhaul. But, any less than Ronan O’Gara politely staying put at La Rochelle and Paul O’Connell with Ireland, it’s doubtful that O’Shea would be remotely inclined to take up any such offer.
It’s hard to think of Munster ever having a worse run of form over the course of six consecutive games, even if this takes into account an overlap between seasons.
The consequences don’t end with trying to fill out Thomond Park. There was a capacity crowd of 50,645 at the aforementioned round five game between Leinster and Munster a dozen years ago. There won’t be next Saturday for this season’s round six game.
As of a few days ago, ticket sales were around the 28,000 mark, when normally they’d have been in the middle or late 30s. Munster fans have grown weary of the venue, especially for meetings against Leinster.
In Munster’s 16 games at the Aviva Stadium since the old Lansdowne Road was redeveloped, they have won two, against Connacht behind closed doors in August 2020, and Leinster in August 2014. In a dozen games there against Leinster, they have lost the other 11, including the last seven. They’ve also lost on their last five visits to the RDS.
Perhaps, therefore, the fixture has also lost some of its sense of jeopardy for Leinster supporters. A misfiring Munster is bad for Munster, but it’s also bad for Irish rugby.
