Last week's loss to Leinster could be either a damaging blow to morale or a timely kick up the rear and history has taught us that, with Munster, it's usually the latter. Gerry Thornleyreports

LAST FRIDAY’S defeat to Leinster maintained a worrying trend for Munster. Not only was it their third defeat in a row to their Irish rivals, it was the third time in succession that Leinster’s defence kept them tryless. Furthermore, in their three biggest, must-win games of the season at a capacity Thomond Park this season, against Perpignan, Northampton and Leinster, they have failed to score one try.

The reliance on Ronan O’Gara is becoming almost as pronounced as it was circa the early 2000s. Despite being outscored by four tries to nil in the three above-mentioned games, they squeezed through against Perpignan thanks to eight penalties by the outhalf, and against Northampton through another four by O’Gara, while his five penalties from five attempts last week got them to within a point of Leinster. But they can’t go on living like this.

Ask Tony McGahan if those three blanks, in terms of tries, at Thomond Park are a worry and the Munster coach concedes: “It is. Because, while in the big games you can go toe to toe with sides, I think the thing that distinguishes the really good sides in getting results is getting points on the board through execution of skill and little bit of X factor.

“But good analysis of opposition allows you to do that and picking the right moments when to attack and when not to. They’re the defining moments in big games. Getting tries is what it’s all about but at the same time you need to adapt to the conditions and the environment of what the opposition are providing against you.”

Time was when Munster manoeuvred their way to within five or 10 metres of the opposition line at key moments in a game, all the more so when the force of psychic energy behind them at a capacity Thomond Park was so tangible you could almost reach out and bite it. We likened it to feeding time for the tigers in a zoo.

The pack would maul or pick-and-drive their way over the line or to within inches of it, and if not scoring themselves would batter their opponents into such submission that it would be a walk-in try further out. The maul and the pack’s frenzy doesn’t seem as potent, though reflecting on those games they’ve rarely been in a position to apply such pressure.

“Our field position is the biggest key. That’s where the game is at this point in time – at set-piece that allows you on both sides of the ball to be able to mount attack or defence that puts you in those positions. Kicking is such a big part of that; whether it’s offensive or defensive, you really need to make sure that you understand where you’re kicking and why you’re kicking, and at the same time when to run and when not to run. That’s what every side is trying to get a balance between. That’s what every side is striving for and that’s what we’re striving for.”

Whereas Leinster left nine points behind through missed kicks and perhaps another couple of tries, Munster couldn’t have been said to have left behind very much. There were pluses to the performance though, Munster looking for all the world like probable winners for much of the first half-hour, and McGahan endeavours to keep some kind of balance.

“I thought we showed tremendous attitude and tremendous intensity and our breakdown work was good. But in the second half we lost the field position battle and I thought Leinster defended extremely well. I thought they controlled things well in the second half and really it came down to that try just before half-time.”

Reflecting in more detail on the game, McGahan said: “We had a number of opportunities in the second half, where we were 40-50 metres out, when we really needed to make sure that we put Leinster under some pressure and put them back in the 22, and we didn’t capitalise on that, and subsequently we felt that we played all our game back in our 22 and it just came down to a penalty goal at the end of it.”

Munster are still running second in the Magners League and have earned a home quarter-final after topping a pool that contained Perpignan (first in the French Top 14) and Northampton (second in the English Premiership), so it’s hardly been a disastrous campaign.

“Without question we have been high in some patches but we’ve also been low in other patches,” accepts the Munster coach. “That’s a real challenge for us and I suppose you go through seasons like that where you just try and grind out, and fight, and get your way through games and get your way through competitions, and this year has been like that. Injuries, selection and continuity of players adds to that, but we’re looking to bring our best for one-off big games and this weekend is one of those.”

And then, in particular, there was that stunning, bonus-point 37-14 win at the Stade Aime Giral, which looks better with each passing week. Significantly, perhaps, that performance was the product of their third game in successive weeks, and they followed that up with bonus-points wins at home to Connacht and away to Treviso. Although they’ve trimmed their sails this season, McGahan has sought to expand Munster’s horizons, with an emphasis on a much higher tempo brand of 15-man rugby and more offloading. A feature of his tenure is that, throughout all the international interruptions, often it takes a few games for Munster to gel. And Munster have had more demands than most since the end of last season.

“We’ve showed this year that when we have that consistency of selection that we have been able to produce that. This weekend is a one-off game and we need to reproduce that cup mentality that we showed down in Perpignan.”

Last week also underlined the importance of Paul O’Connell and Keith Earls, albeit in sharply contrasting ways. O’Connell probably carried the biggest load of any player in these islands last summer when, knowing him, he would have given every ounce of his being, mentally, physically and emotionally to the onerous job of captaining the Lions.

Nevertheless, his presence “gives us the grunt up front to be able to lay a platform out wide and Keith is a special player that has that X factor about him that can create one-on-one mismatches. He gives us that impetus to either get over the gain line or to create something that can set up a try.”

For Jerry Flannery, last week was just his second competitive start of the season for Munster, which made his all-action 68 minutes on the pitch all the more striking. “It seems like he’s been away for a very long period of time,” agrees McGahan, “but he’s a thorough professional and his leadership and whole attitude is infectious through the squad. For him to be backing up for us is huge and he’ll be much better for the run-out from last Friday evening.”

McGahan also accepts the Munster scrum has “not been as good as we would have liked on opposition ball. We’ve been very decent on our own ball but opposition ball has been the key for us. It’s a real target for us against Northampton, who really pride themselves on dismantling opposition scrums.”

Last week could be either a damaging blow to morale or a timely kick up the rear, and history has taught us that, with regard to Munster, it’s usually the latter. McGahan accepts that a narrow win might have masked flaws in their performance and pushed those issues under the carpet. “It certainly revealed those. There might have been a perception from outside that we were doing okay if we won, but we lost and it certainly brings those to the forefront of our mind and our need to work on them.”

This is also what Munster are all about, defending their own Limerick patch with their backs to the wall. “You work so hard to get through the pool stages and we’ve been under the pump since round one when we lost in Northampton. Every game that we’ve played in the Heineken Cup has been like a Cup final for us. To work hard enough to get a quarter-final, we certainly don’t want to let an opportunity at home slip. We’re facing a Northampton side who have been here before and are obviously very eager to get a result but, at the same time, we certainly understand what needs to be done to get a result.

“It has to be our best. Anything less than that won’t get a result. The quarter-final is a very important, but very difficult, stage to get through. You can really gather some momentum after a really good quarter-final performance and a really galvanising performance, as past winners have shown. Getting through the quarter-final with a really good result and a good team performance can certainly give great impetus to go through the rest of the competition.”

Time for Munster to unveil their Heineken Cup A-game again.