Critical emails unlikely to help remedy decline in Munster power and prestige

An Irish four-timer gives the embryonic Guinness Pro12 table a more positive perspective, after Connacht had been the only winners of the quartet on the opening weekend. Early days for sure, but as they gear up for the visit of Leinster to the Sportsground in the season's first interprovincial derby next Friday, Connacht are the good news story of the season so far.

Their’s was the stand-out result of the second weekend, a late win away from home against a team, Edinburgh, who had finished above them last season. By contrast the other trio all justified favouritism against last season’s bottom two from Italy, who already occupy 11th and 12th position, and in Leinster’s case at home to the Scarlets.

Normally, a seemingly routine 21-10 win away to Treviso would not register that much on rugby's richter scale but arguably the most significant winners of the weekend were Munster. The management report on each member of the squad, which was inadvertently emailed to all of the players on the eve of the competitive season was an ill-timed episode for Anthony Foley and his indigenous coaching staff.

Misplaced email

Perception is everything, and nothing influences perception quite like results. Viewed in that light, defeat to Edinburgh at Thomond Park was not ideal. Suddenly, the misplaced email had the potential to become a bigger issue than if Munster had won their opening few games. Coming on the back of end-of-season league defeats at home to Glasgow and

Ulster

, it meant that Munster had lost three consecutive competitive games at their Limerick citadel for the first time in the pro era.

In front of a poor opening night attendance, it was a grim enough start to the Foley era in what are challenging times for Munster. Leinster, to a large degree, have overtaken them since that seismic Heineken Cup semi-final win at Croke Park in 2009. Helped by greater playing numbers, stronger finances and better facilities, through the combined work of their academy and schools set-up, Leinster have also been boxing more cleverly than Munster for several seasons.

For socio-economic factors as much as anything else, the shift in the balance of power from Munster to Leinster has been even more glaring in the club game. For much of the professional era it would have been unthinkable to have only one Limerick club, Young Munster in the top flight (Division 1A) of the Ulster Bank League. After all, 17 of the first 20 winners of the AIL up until Cork Constitution’s title in 2010 emanated from Munster, and 13 of those were claimed by Limerick clubs. This season it would be no surprise if the title remained in Leinster for a fifth season running, nor that four Dublin clubs contest the belatedly revived semi-final play-offs.

Even Ulster have caught up with, and perhaps overtaken, Munster in terms of producing talented young players – particularly backs, which even in the glory days was never a Munster forte.

Some of the critical comments by the coaching staff about some Munster players which have come to light in that misdirected email could be interpreted as re-enforcing the view that this is not a golden era for the province. In any case, it simply cannot be helpful for players to read, in some cases, damning judgments on themselves or squad-mates.

Player’s character If the episode has hammered home one thing for coaches generally, it is that whatever they may say about a player’s technical merits,

it is another thing altogether for a coach to question a player’s character, especially if there is a chance of that being put in print.

The administrative error was not Foley’s, nor can any of the observations can be attributed to him. It’s just his bad luck that it happened at the beginning of his watch. Indeed, until last Friday’s win, if it wasn’t for Foley’s bad luck he’d have had no luck at all. It’s doubtful that Munster have ever had a tougher European pool draw than this season’s group, containing as it does Sale, Saracens and Clermont.

Watching Ian Madigan dovetailing with Jimmy Gopperth as a second five eighth-type inside centre in Leinster's handsome win over the Scarlets, it was ironic to recall how Foley had been extolling the virtues of two playmakers at 10/12. The prospective arrival of the Canterbury outhalf cum inside centre, Tyler Bleyendaal, would have given Foley more options in this regard only for the neck injury which has sidelined him for several months.

Perhaps though, Foley is getting rid of all his bad luck early on. These are still early days and aside from having cut his teeth as an assistant, Foley has assembled what appears a well-balanced and talented coaching ticket. And if any group has the honesty to come to terms with that inadvertently misplaced email, it is a Munster squad with Foley at the helm and leadership figures such as Peter O’Mahony and Paul O’Connell.

Helpful that they won nonetheless.

gthornley@irishtimes.com