There are few places to hide on a rugby pitch, but fullback is one of the most visible, especially in defence. One of my first experiences in an interprovincial was against Munster in Donnybrook. Keith Wood managed to break free leaving us “mano a mano”.
He turned me, the fullback, inside out, and I committed the heinous crime as the last line of defence in not being decisive. Instead, I hedged by bets and tried to chaperone too many people at once. Keith strolled over untouched. It put the tin hat on a really poor individual performance on my part.
At times it felt like we were playing in unofficial Irish selection matches, or old school Final Trials if you prefer, such was the intensity. You had to be switched on mentally and physically.
In the build-up to last Saturday’s game between the provinces at Croke Park I was struck by a couple of things, Munster’s injury profile and the strength of the Leinster line-up. My gut feeling was that the match could end up a bit one-sided and when Leinster scored their third try to go 21-0 up, the signs were ominous that a rout was on the cards.
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It didn’t materialise because the Munster pack got some go-forward ball, Jack Crowley brought his influence to bear, and as a result his team changed gears. As it transpired, they were desperately unlucky not to score two more tries in the opening half.
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If Seán O’Brien’s offload had gone to Mike Haley it was try time, while Alex Nankivell’s pass for Calvin Nash seemed flat enough to stand, especially when considering some of the other decisions throughout the 80-minutes.
As the respective coaches reflect on the match, they will be left to mull over the good and the bad. Graham Rowntree will be less than pleased about the result, but that aside will focus on the fixes that will alter performance and outcomes. He should celebrate the application, resilience, and character shown right across the match day squad.
When there are easy outs presenting themselves – an away match, wholesale injuries, being three tries down et cetera – when players continue to apply themselves there is very little more you can ask of the group.
Munster were arguably the better team for large parts of the game. Accuracy let them down at key scoring moments. However, they looked more dangerous with the ball-in-hand and less predictable in attack. It’s not about a silver lining per se, but this can become something that the wider group can use later in the season.
They know they can play, but it requires accuracy and being switched on mentally and physically from the get-go. They were caught napping for 20 minutes. There were also a few new faces getting meaningful game time with Tom Farrell excelling and Alex Nankivell continuing his high calibre input.
Leo Cullen and Leinster will spend more time reviewing the match from 20 minutes onwards after a successful opening blitz on both sides of the ball. Attack and defence delivered with ruthless efficiency, illustrated by aggressive clearing out at ruck time where the work in this capacity of RG Syman, James Ryan and Jack Conan ensured quick, front-foot ball that allowed Jamison Gibson-Park to choose; he was irresistibly efficient.
Despite wrapping up the bonus point before half-time, that first quarter aside, it felt an unconvincing display from a Leinster perspective. Credit is due to Munster for the manner in which they responded, but what will be of concern for Leinster is that they were not able to reassert that dominance and control.
Leinster became more and more predictable in their attack One exception was a chip over the top from Gibson-Park that James Lowe almost got on the end of midway through the second half, narrowly beaten by Haley, with a head start, in the foot race. Cullen’s side relied heavily on their defence to stifle Munster and see out the match.
As Munster’s defence became better organised and connected, Leinster struggled to respond in any meaningful way. This has been an area a lot of teams have struggled in, regenerating momentum in attack when it disappears. It’s happened to Leinster in successive matches.
Ciarán Frawley and Gibson-Park dominated the first quarter, but Munster’s Craig Casey and Crowley tipped the scales in their favour subsequently as the more influential and better performing set of halfbacks. Frawley looked comfortable in the outhalf position, but it was clear he was short on game time or experience in the role when you compared his output to that of Crowley.
Ireland’s first choice outhalf gradually played his way into the game to deliver a strong performance. The consistency that Crowley and Casey give Munster is really important as it allows others a bit more freedom.
A problem for Frawley , is that when Leinster’s backline required a reshuffle, he was shunted to fullback. Giving up the kicking duties, temporarily, to Ross Byrne for the penultimate penalty attempt was a surprise.
Whereas Munster look at ease with their primary playmakers, Leinster are only starting that process with Frawley. There is a shape to the Leinster attack without a feel to it, unless Gibson-Park or Lowe get involved. You can see the burgeoning understanding between Frawley and Jamie Osborne in the manner they combined but how many more games will they get to play as outhalf and inside centre?
Ronan O’Gara said at one point last season when discussing Crowley that in the first 10 matches after you break into a team, the focus is on keeping your head above water, but the salient point here is that you get that run of games to prove yourself and foster the development of relationships with the players around you.
Frawley needs as much time as possible at outhalf for himself, but also for his team-mates to get used to how he plays. Leinster have been guilty in the past of chopping and changing, albeit driven there often by injury.
There are more gears to the Leinster attack. Frawley has to be given time to bed in and run it. Otherwise, Leinster are destined to repeat mistakes of the past.
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