NO ONE saw that coming. Munster have spent all week reviewing just what went wrong in their defeat to Edinburgh. The good thing for fans and players alike is that a chance at redemption is only days away. As Gloucester come to town on Saturday 19 night at 6pm, Munster have been trying to find out what lead to their defeat to the bottom side of the Rabo Pro 12.
Munster coach Rob Penney has questioned his players’ desire and attitude after the defeat, something the Munster public are not used to hearing.
“I have been in many teams where for one reason or another they have not gotten up for the game. It doesn’t matter whether it is professional or amateur. 99 per cent of the time, all of these guys love what they do. For some reason it just looked on Saturday that there was a couple out there who didn’t quite have that passion and drive that they normally have,” commented Penney this week ahead of the must-win home game this weekend. Does all the play lay at the players’ feet though?
“Why that was? I do not know. We have looked deep into our coaching souls to try and unearth anything we could have done differently. There is probably a couple of things that we would change if we had a 1.30pm kick off again.
“At the end of the day though, this is a proud bunch of men. Those kinds of comments, from me, would reverberate around in their hearts in a way in which it will not take much to motivate them. Because they are so proud and honoured to wear the jersey and because of all the history and traditions here, with the Heineken Cup in particular, they do not want to be tarred with that brush,” added the New Zealand native.
Peter O’Mahony, Munster captain and absentee from last weekend, feels that a team performance is needed now, more than ever.
“We need to perform as a team. As a 15. That is the most important thing on Saturday.”
Munster’s game plan has come in for massive criticism since Penney’s arrival, but O’Mahony feels the results are a player’s issue.
“Nobody talks about it (the game plan) when you win and then it becomes an issue when you lose. Our game plan is based around our physicality and when we don’t implement ourselves into a game plan, regardless of what gameplan that is, it is going to be useless in rugby. It is a physical contact sport. If you are not winning contacts, regardless of whether you are the All Blacks or not, if you are not winning collisions you are going to look ordinary. We enjoy playing the rugby we are playing. Our game plan is our game plan, we love playing it. If you are not going to carry the ball well or implement yourself on the game physically, there is no point”
This weekend’s game is live on Sky Sports also.
