Munster never wanted the season to boil down to two rolls of the dice. As it stands, a couple of weeks in the South African sun will determine what the squad will take away from the other seven months of competition largely played in a European winter.
They will blame nobody but themselves for allowing the season to unspool towards such an uncertain finish, firstly in Cape Town against the Stormers before a session in the Shark Tank in Durban for the final match of the regular season.
The outcome of those tests will not only determine whether Munster go through to the knock-out phases on the United Rugby Championship (URC) but whether they compete in next season’s European Champions Cup.
“We’ve spent a whole week looking at it, working things out, reviewing, working to get better,” says Munster coach Graham Rowntree. “Then you’ve got to look forward because there is always another challenge around the corner and we’ve got a massive one on Saturday.”
If Munster win both games, they have a chance of finishing in the top four, which means they qualify for a home URC quarter-final. They are currently fifth in the table.
However, should Munster lose both games, they could slip to eighth place, or drop out of the playoff places. Then qualification for next year’s Champions Cup would also also be in doubt.
“You learn from adversity,” says Rowntree. “We’ve had some adversity for one reason or another this season and the group’s tighter for it. This group want to achieve and a word was mentioned earlier about fizzling out, there’s no-one here going to fizzle out.
“We’re still striving to be as good as we can be and the lads have been honest. We’ve been honest about the last performances. What more can you do? Fix it, be honest, get on with it. Get on with the next game.”
Both the conditions and the style of rugby, big packs and the ball going quickly to the edges and the reality has been South Africa is a difficult place for the Irish teams. Although as Rowntree points out, it is no different from the South Africans travelling north for games on sodden pitches.
And as much as people strive to parse just what Munster need to sneak through or get into the knockout phases, the coach can see no further than winning the match on Saturday. He is not overlooking the available range of possibilities and permutations.
“Yes, I’m excited. This, for me, outside of Europe, is my most visited country on the planet,” says Rowntree.
“I’ve been here loads and I love coming back to South Africa so I’m energised and excited and I’ll be passing that onto the lads. From what I’ve seen from the lads, they feel the same way as me.
“We’ve got to win the next game. You have to win the next game. Every week. Find a way to win the next game. Recover from the last game, mentally, physically, solve all the problems, win the next game. All of my focus will be on the game, our game, until the end of the game. I genuinely mean that.”
While Simon Zebo has been left out of the travelling squad, which touched down in Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon, Keith Earls has been included. One veteran winger for another.
There are 18 forwards and 13 backs making the trip, with the 23-man matchday squad to be named at 12pm on Friday. Earls, Jeremy Loughman, and Academy players Mark Donnelly, Edwin Edogbo and Jack Oliver have been included in the travelling group after overcoming respective injuries.
Like Earls, Rowntree is looking for players such as Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman to bring their collective rugby intelligence and experience to the games.
There is no getting away from the weirdness of the environment and the must-win, knockout feel of the position in which Munster have found themselves. Playing to survive in the Champions Cup for the following season has not been a huge part of Thomond Park culture.
“It may feel like a normal week. But it is another massive game for the club,” says Rowntree.
“The more experience you have around you like that, guys who have been through a few fires, the calmness that they bring, the way they speak and how they make the other guys feel. So, the more old heads that I can have around like that, the better.
“We have planned for this block for a while. We were playing in near 30 degrees in Durban a matter of days ago [Champions Cup Round of 16 game]. It is not quite that here [in Cape Town] at the moment. As a matter of fact it is quite overcast today.
“Yesterday it was mid-20′s at tops. But yeah, we have been here before.”
Both the Stormers and the Sharks lost in the Champions Cup last weekend to high scores, 42-17 and 54-20 to Exeter and Toulouse, respectively. That may turn out to be a catalyst to do better this week for a home crowd.
Either way, Rowntree knows Munster’s task is not for a moment going to be easy. But also that it couldn’t be more simple.
