RUGBY:MUNSTER BEAR the psychological implications of expectation with a lightness that can appear almost un-Irish in a sporting context. It's a hard-nosed focus that they will hope to bring with them to a rain-sodden south of France.
Despite playing away from home against a Montauban team that have acquitted themselves impressively in their first season in the Heineken Cup, Munster will be considered favourites to record a fifth victory in the pool stages and in doing so secure a priceless home quarter-final.
There is a temptation to point to their opponent’s record in their domestic championship – seven wins and a draw in 15 matches that leaves them seventh in the French T14 table – or to brandish Montauban’s results at the Stade de Sapiac in Europe this season: Clermont escaped with a narrow victory but the Sale Sharks departed clutching just a single point.
Then there is the logbook of the reverse fixture at Thomond Park to examine, a match in which the visitors came within a bootlace of conjuring up one of the all-time European rugby upsets. Munster will understand that their hosts won’t be accommodating simply because they have nothing tangible for which to play. Pride will be a spur but they’ll also relish another tilt at the European champions.
The atmosphere at the Stade de Sapiac may lack the feral intensity of a number of other French venues but that in itself won’t necessarily suit Munster as the Irish province tend to reserve some of their best performances when adopting a siege mentality. One suspects that the most important game Munster must play ahead of today’s kick-off is the mental one.
Replicating the unswerving focus and concentration that they displayed against Sale would serve them well. Munster coach Tony McGahan has retained the same team from last week, charging the players with producing a similar effort.
The lessons of the first pool fixture between today’s combatants are instructive. Munster need to cut down appreciably on the number of handling errors and turnovers, match the aggression of the home pack and manage the game from the right areas. The forecast is for rain so the game-plan must be tweaked to suit the conditions.
Montauban have made wholesale changes from last week’s hammering away to Clermont Auvergne, a defeat that will have little relevance given the changeover in personnel. It is not their strongest team but it is appreciably more streetwise than the callow, experimental line-up that buckled last weekend at the Stade Marcel Michelin.
Indeed, the French club make seven changes from the first meeting at Thomond Park. Only centre Jean Phillipe Viard and outhalf Regis Lespinas are retained behind the scrum while up front captain Matthias Rolland is preferred to former Ulster lock Rowen Frost and Ibrahim Diarra is named at flanker.
Arguably the two most notable absentees are former Romanian international scrumhalf and Montauban’s leading points scorer Petre Mitu, who is on the bench, and the 35-year-old inspirational flanker Marc Raynaud: the latter cut a hugely impressive figure in Limerick, his cussed resistance a focal point for his team-mates.
One player whose presence Munster will have noted is one-time Clermont wing, the Fijian Vilimoni Delasau, a brilliantly instinctive counter-attacking threat and a smart finisher. Fullback Julien Laharrague has played for France while Scotland and Lions lock Scott Murray may now be 33 years old but it’s unlikely to diminish his influence out of touch.
In games of this ilk, Munster, much like any away team, will be looking to make a quick start, one that will make it more difficult for their hosts to persuade themselves to take the physical punishment with little tangible reward. It’ll start and end with the battle up front from the set pieces to ruck-time.
The Irish province will want to put a bit of pace on the game to maximise the impact and running skills of Lifeimi Mafi, Keith Earls, Ian Dowling and Doug Howlett, a potent amalgam of line breakers. Ronan O’Gara, in tandem with Tomás O’Leary, will look to vary the patterns and manage the game with his customary intelligence.
David Wallace couldn’t be playing any better, the ball carrying heartbeat of a pack happily restored to their pomp in the Sale match. They’ll need to be because Montauban know that to conjure an upset, this is an area they’ll need to shade.
The prospect of that home quarter-final is a massive incentive and one that Munster should be able to pursue successfully. It could be tight, uncomfortably so but as the European champions have shown on several occasions this season, they know exactly where the finishing line is as the clock winds down.
MONTAUBAN: J Laharrague; A Figueiredo, J Viard, S Paku, V Delasau; R Lespinas, J Audy; B Balan, B Mach, N Adams; M Rolland (capt), S Murray; Y Caballero, I Diarra, M Clarkin. Replacements: G Shvelidze, S Florea, R Frost, K Ghezal, M Avramovic, F Fortassin, P Mitu.
MUNSTER: P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O’Gara, T O’Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (capt); A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: D Fogarty, F Pucciariello, D Ryan, N Ronan, P Stringer, B Murphy, D Hurley.
Referee: D Pearson (England).
Previous meetings: (HC 2008-2009) At Thomond Park – Munster 19 Montauban 17.
Leading points scorers: Montauban – Petre Mitu 32. Munster – Ronan O’Gara 51.
Leading try scorers: Montauban – S Jonnet, A Battu, V Delasau, J Dalla-Riva. Munster – David Wallace 3.
Odds (courtesy of Paddy Power): Montauban 7/2, draw 25/1, Munster 1/6. Handicap: Montauban (+9 pts) 10/11, draw 20/1, Munster (-9) 10/11.
Verdict: Munster to win.
