Munster and Leinster will once again circle each other like sharks in the murky waters of the Champions Cup knockout stages.
Just like last year’s tournament, there is a path there for both sides to face each other in the final in Bilbao should they advance through the quarter-final and semi-final stages, which, naturally, will be easier said than done given that Leinster drew two-time defending champions Saracens in the quarter-finals, while Munster will welcome Toulon to Thomond Park.
Leinster are the prohibitive favourites for the tournament, and rightfully so, given their outstanding form this season, but Munster showed their mettle against a Castres side with nothing to play for.
The betting line before the game was 40 points, so any praise for Munster must be noted with that in mind, but, to steal a phrase from boxing, you can only hit what’s in front of you, and Munster absolutely clobbered Castres. Repeatedly.
It wasn’t necessarily the accuracy of their punches, nor the power, that inflicted the damage, but rather the volume of hits and the variety of angles that Munster peppered their hapless French opponents with.
The drove over the top of Castres with their maul. They ran around the outside of them with their speed and Conor Murray’s quick thinking. They ran through the middle of their defence with some excellent skill from Rory Scannell and some good hard running from Chris Farrell.
It was a vintage Munster performance. They dominated the set-piece, they controlled the game with their strong carrying and effective clean out, and they dazzled when they got the ball to their backs in space, and even without space.
Simon Zebo’s try was a wonderful score crafted by Keith Earls after he danced his way past multiple Castres defenders before sending Zebo racing towards the try line.
It was an excellent run by Earls who drew in the final defender before he was leveled by Alexandre Bias.
Earls’ position in the Irish team was in jeoparady after Andrew Conway and Jacob Stockdale thrived in November, but given his performance in Paris last weekend, and his man of the match effort in Limerick on Sunday, you have to imagine he’ll be one of the first names on the teamsheet for the Six Nations opener against France next month.
He’ll also play a central part in any Champions Cup run Munster may have later in the season.
Toulon will be a real handful for Munster to deal with in the knockout stages, but Munster are a force at Thomond Park and have only conceded eight tries in six Pool games this season, a tournament best.
They will have to maintain their impeccable defensive record when they face a Toulon side averaging just under three tries a game, but defence has never really been an issue for Munster in this competition, it’s their attack that has been the problem over the last 18 months.
During last year’s 26-10 semi-final defeat to eventual champions Saracens, Munster controlled the game with 61% possession yet only registered one try and 10 points.
They had no answer for Saracens linespeed, and when they couldn’t bully their way through the likes of the Vunipola brothers, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, George Kruis and Michael Rhodes, they folded.
Saracens absorbed their pressure and ruthlessly punished Munster off turnovers which they ultimately turned into territory, where they had Munster at sixes and sevens from the set-piece.
Under van Graan, Munster are averaging a whopping 32 points a game and show no signs of letting up.
Their lowest total under the South African thus far has been 17 points away to Ulster, where an understrength Munster without CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray went down in Belfast.
Their attack is thriving with van Graan at the helm, they have the best defence in the competition, and they have not lost a home game in Europe since they were defeated by the Leicester Tigers in December 2015.
They came unstuck last year by a lack of inventiveness in attack as they were stifled by one of the best club teams in history.
However, since van Graan’s arrival they have been firing on all cylinders.
As one of supporter surmised after the Castres win: “It was always going to come. 100% professional every fucking minute of the game.”
https://twitter.com/merv734/status/955140355950891008
32 points a game. Eight tries conceded in six games. Professional indeed.
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