MUNSTER face Clermont this Sunday in round four of the Rugby Champions Cup. Anthony Foley’s men must win the game if they are to harbour any hopes of making it through to the knock stages of this year’s Rugby Champions Cup.
The Stade Marcel Michelin will be the setting for what is surely the defining moment of the 2014/15 season. Kick off in France is at 3.15pm Irish time and by 6pm Munster fans will know if their charges have once more defied the odds and over turned last weekend’s 16-9 loss.
Coach Foley’s first port of call this week was to count those still standing from the energy sapping round three clash.
Winger Gerhard van den Heever will not be available for selection this weekend after sustaining a knee injury on Saturday night, while Dave Kilcoyne (knee) is a major doubt for the trip.
Kilcoyne’s potential replacement James Cronin, took a knock to his shoulder and is also considered 50/ 50 at best for selection. At the time of going to print, Munster had not confirmed that a medical joker would be invoked to allow another prop to be added to the Champions Cup squad, as John Ryan is the only fit losse head.
In other injury news, Robin Copeland, Paddy Butler, Eusebio Guinazu and Andrew Smith all returned to training this week with a view to being selected.
Munster’s loss last weekend came as a surprise to many. Peter O’Mahony’s men were, in his own words, “bullied” off the field. The perceived lack of a plan ‘B’ is a little harsh but the performances of some key decision makers in the side will have been the subject of keen reviews this week.
Clermont’s ability to stifle Munster’s ball at ruck time, legally or illegally, is a worry for Anthony Foley who this week has to come up with a new plan to defeat the joint favourites for the group.
Foley’s comments post Clermont point the finger towards application of the basics, more so than a potential overhaul of basics.
“We know the way that they went about going after us. We need to sit down and study how we’d like to go after them. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t show a whole pile today. We need to make sure we understand how important the ball is and then apply pressure on them,” Foley added.
“When you look at things over a period of time, what went right for us in the past, when we were sharper and used the ball well, we just didn’t do that. We coughed up ball when we had them in corners. Any ball that bounced, they got it and we would have made hay with that. We lost the physical battle because they were on the front foot. We need to turn that around”.
Foley agrees that this is not over, just yet. “We’re not going to throw in any towel. We’ll give it our best shot and make sure we stay fighting. We need to stay true to the badge we wear. It’s not a great feeling at the moment. We need to rectify that.”
In domestic rugby news, the Munster Senior Cup reaches it semi final this weekend with three Limerick sides in contention for a final spot. An all Limerick tie sees Garryowen travel to Thomond Park to take on UL Bohemians on Saturday at 2pm.
In the other semi final, Young Munster travel to Cork to take on Constitution at 2.30pm on the same day.
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