Munster must come roaring back

HOOKER Jerry Flannery has admitted that the Munster players will find it hard to pick themselves up for their remaining Magners League fixture, but he is adamant that they must come roaring back in Sunday’s final regular season clash with the Cardiff Blues (6.15pm).


Fourth-placed Munster need to secure a draw at least against Amlin Challenge Cup finalists Cardiff at the Cardiff City Stadium this weekend in order to be sure to making it through to the inaugural play-offs later this month.
Fourth-placed Munster currently enjoy a four-point lead over both fifth-placed Cardiff and sixth-placed Edinburgh with just one round of regular season games to go.
Jerry Flannery admitted it had been devastating for Munster to lose out at the semi-final stage of the Heineken Cup for a second successive year.
Biarritz’s dominant second half performance helped the Top 14 side secure a thoroughly deserved 18-7 success at the Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian on Sunday.
Flannery says the Munster players cannot afford to ‘loll around and feel sorry’ for themselves over the remainder of the season.
“For the rest of the season, it’s going to be difficult to raise ourselves for the Magners League, but that’s what we have to do. You can’t just loll around and feel sorry for yourself,” Flannery wrote in his rugby column on the Joe.ie.
“It’s not good enough saying you have to learn from this and come back, although that’s what we have to try to do. We’re lucky enough to have been competitive again and to get to the semi-final, but it’s just devastating to fall short.
It was late, one o’clock or so Sunday night-Monday morning, by the time we got back home after the game in San Sebastian. I got a couple of bangs and I have to get my ribs checked out, but the scars are more mental than anything else at this stage.
“It’ll take a few days for this kind of thing to kick in.
“Going home last (Sunday) night and getting up today (Monday), it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but knowing that there’s nothing there for us in Europe for the rest of the season is hard to take.
“With the way the economy is it’s unbelievable that the fans are still putting their hands in their pockets and come over to support us.
“You only have so many chances to win a Heineken Cup over the course of your career. When we won in 2006 you think you’ll have a load more chances to add to it. Then 2007 slipped by, we managed to win it again in 2008 but last year and now this season again, it’s very disappointing.
“A few people have mentioned about the structures that meant both ourselves and Leinster had away semi-finals against French sides, but you just have to take that as it is.
“If you’re going to win the Heineken Cup you’re going to have to win difficult games.
“Going back to 2008 we had to go away to Saracens, away to Gloucester. They were hard games on the road as well, but we won them and that’s what you’ve got to do to win it.”
Jerry Flannery admitted that Munster’s stuttering set-piece, both scrum and line-out, had contributed significantly to their downfall.
Flannery wrote: “We felt good coming in at half-time and just wanted to step it up in the second half. But our set-piece just didn’t function after that and we weren’t able to get any good ball. It was hard for us to build anything.
“We were kicking the ball to them and they either returned it to us or they kept it, so they seemed to have the ball all the time and we found it impossible to launch any attacks.
“Biarritz are a very well-drilled scrummaging unit and we have to be honest - they gave us a going-over and it’s one of the primary reasons we lost the game.
“We’ve got to hold our hands up. It’s very disappointing for us. I felt we were improving all the time as a scrummaging unit but in this game we just came up short and it cost us.”

Colm Kinsella

De Villiers jets in

MUNSTER’S new South African centre Jean de Villiers joins up with his team-mates in Limerick this week fresh from helping the Springboks land the Tri Nations series.
De Villiers lived up to his nickname, the ‘Intercept King’, when picking off Dan Carter’s skip pass on route to scoring a crucial second half try in South Africa’s 32-29 win over the All Blacks in Hamilton on Saturday.
De Villiers, who is due to be based in Limerick during his time with Munster, is set to meet up with Tony McGahan’s squad for the first time this week.
The 28-year-old former South African Player of the Year is likely to make his Munster debut in the province’s round four Magners League tie against the Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park on Sunday week, September 27 (5.05pm). Munster Rugby announced in July that the province had signed the 54-time capped Springbok for the coming season with terms for an option to extend for a further two seasons.
Speaking of his decision to join Munster, De Villiers said: “Munster are one of the foremost teams in Europe and enjoy a massive supporter base.
“I look forward to experiencing the tradition, passion and ambition associated with Munster and to helping them achieve further success.
“It has been a difficult decision for me to leave South African rugby after so many enjoyable seasons with Western Province, Stormers and the Springboks. I am particularly grateful to all of those involved who have supported me and helped further my rugby career.
“I certainly wouldn’t rule out a return to SA rugby sometime in the future. I feel however, it would be good to experience a new challenge and I believe the time is right to do that now while I am at the top of my game.”
Munster registered their first win of the Magners League campaign at Thomond Park on Friday night when securing a 24-13 win over a plucky Cardiff Blues side.
Tony McGahan’s men are in Wales this Saturday to face the Llanelli Scarlets in round three of the competition - kick-off at Parc y Scarlets is at 6.30pm.
Coach McGahan was encouraged by his side’s improved showing against the Blues on Friday night. However, he warned that his charges would need to step up their performance further against the Scarlets in Wales.
“The difference between the performance against the Blues and the previous one against Glasgow was attitude, really,” Tony McGahan said.
“We did not turn up to play and we were beaten physically around the park. The set-piece was obviously a problem. Against Cardiff, we rectified that to a degree.
“We really have to be on our game next week. Scarlets have started well.”
Friday night’s game marked the return to competitive action of Alan Quinlan who had served a 12-week suspension. Quinlan’s back-row colleague Niall Ronan was the deserving recipient of the Man of the Match accolade.
McGahan said: “Niall (Ronan) was tremendous. The new laws really suit him to a T.
“His work rate and his ability to work close to the ground is testament to himself.”

COLM KINSELLA