IT was a disappointing weekend for the Munster and Irish Rugby contingent with both teams falling away from home.
Munster lost out to the Glasgow Warriors on Friday night in awful weather conditions with no particular wind direction. The home side took the lead with a peach of a try coming from lock Scott Cummings the hosts went into half-time with a healthy 10-3 advantage. Jean Kleyn grabbed a glimmer of hope for Munster in the 71st minute but it wasn’t to be with the final score standing at 13-11 in the hosts favour.
Meanwhile, Ireland were beaten the following day by the French in Paris. France opened the scoring early through star man Antoine Dupont and it wasn’t long before it looked pretty grim for Ireland as the hosts led by 12 at half time. Two quick tries by Josh Van de Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park cut the lead to just one late on. But an exchange in penalties and another home try saw France win 30-24.
After losses for both Munster and Ireland check out some of the talking points we can take away from the weekend.
Positive Irish performance despite loss
Despite Ireland losing the game in France, there are many positives to take from the game. The tournament favorites were unable to cope when Ireland let the ball do the work. The Irish have been known for their physical dominance for donkeys years but their new brand of rugby involves physical assertiveness and soft hands combined.
This rugby makes it difficult to defend against, especially when you have the likes of Tadgh Furlong throwing passes like he’s Peter Stringer!
The future of Irish rugby is seemingly in safe hands with youth scattered throughout the team. Trust is being put in new faces all the time. The latest being Connacht winger Mack Hansen who on just his second test has scored a try and got the love of the nation behind him. His try at the weekend was truly spectacular, catching a ball running at full tilt off a kick-off is something you see maybe once a year in the rugby world.
Defensively Ireland were also good. Their only issue at the back was their kick defense and that’s where they conceded most of their tries. In terms of tackling and rucking they were difficult to breakdown all day. The visitors were able to force the French to kick a lot more than they wanted by putting the hosts back all day, and when turning the ball over their transition from defense to attack was fantastic.
If Ireland can keep this brand of rugby up they will be a real force in world rugby in the coming years.
Munster’s discipline still an issue
Week’s after Munster’s loss against Connacht, when the men in red felt it was the final straw on their ill-discipline, the side is still conceding an obscene amount of penalties.
The team saw double digits at the weekend again with a lot of those conceded at the breakdown. This is unusual in todays rugby as contesting a ruck is a lot more calculated than years past.
Management will look to leaders through the group to try and get this discipline under control with this area being one that is definitely behind the curve.
Munster need a reaction against Edinburgh if they are to end silverware drought
Munster’s loss at the weekend ended their five game winning streak in 2022. The away side had plenty of opportunities to take the lead but it wasn’t their day.
If Munster are to have any chance at silverware this season they must bounce back this weekend against Edinburgh and I’m sure it has been discussed already this week.
Leaders in the team such as, Jack O’Donoghue, Chris Farrell, Simon Zebo, etc., must guide the youth through this period as it is so easy to slip away from the competitive nature of the sport. Edinburgh haven’t had the best run of games so far losing their last two games on the trot. They currently sit in 4th a spot above Munster.
The return of Craig Casey, Dave Kilcoyne and Gavin Coombes means they are all available this weekend with a break in the Six Nations. The southern province will look at this game with real potential to move back up the table.
The post Talking Points | Positive Irish performance despite loss, Munster reaction after loss with discipline still an issue appeared first on Sporting Limerick.
