Cork Rugby Talking Points: Munster trying to regain momentum on the road to Ospreys
Fineen Wycherley is facing a spell on the sidelines. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady
MUNSTER make the tricky trip to Swansea on Friday evening to face in-form Ospreys in a URC clash that would make life a lot easier in the coming months for Graham Rowntree if his side were to bag a big victory on the road.
The reigning URC champions go into this weekend lying 6th in the table on 34 points, but with just five points covering positions 4 to 11, a loss in Wales would see Munster tumbling down the table.
Munster host Cardiff next weekend, and will be targeting that one as a five-pointer, but given that their next two games after that will be down in South Africa in April against the Bulls and the Lions, Friday’s fixture is one to either give them a bit of leeway when they make that trip to the southern hemisphere, or else a loss here could mean they are in a similar boat to last year, when they had to get positive results in South Africa to save their season.
The Ospreys are currently in 10th place in the URC league table, on 30 points, and they will know that they can catch, and possibly even pass, Munster with a victory at the Swansea.com Stadium on Friday.
The Welsh side have won their last six games in front of the Swansea crowd, including a 19-17 victory over Ulster last month, which was secured with a last-gasp drop goal from 20-year-old out-half Dan Edwards, and they will be eager to continue that rich run of home form this weekend, although strangely Munster are undefeated against non-Irish sides in the league this season, so something has to give in this round.
Munster may have scored 87 points, and 13 tries, in their last two games against the Scarlets and Zebre, but these are the only two competitive fixtures they have played in two months, so it is impossible to gauge the form of the team as they head into the crunch point of the campaign.
There was the feeling that the Munster maul was beginning to rumble again in those aforementioned wins, and particularly so with the likes of RG Snyman back to add his considerable ballast to such proceedings. If that set piece can become a potent Munster weapon for the remainder of the season then Munster can expect to be a big player in the shake-up for the URC and the Champions Cup.
The one big advantage with Munster not being over-represented in Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad is that not too many players have to sit it out this weekend.
Six Nations title winners Jack Crowley, Calvin Nash, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray are the five Munster players who were in action against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday, where they celebrated another title triumph, and all are not yet back to club duty.
You would expect them all to be back in Munster red for the Champions Cup revisit to Northampton Saints in a fortnight, but the hangovers from last weekend are probably only starting to clear now.
Craig Casey and Jeremy Loughman have both been released back to Munster, and you would expect Graham Rowntree to be throwing them straight in for this crunch game.
With Oli Jager and Fineen Wycherley looking like they are facing surgery, and with Alex Nankivell going through the return to play protocols, every experienced head is likely to be crucial this weekend, although John Hodnett, Simon Zebo and Jack O’Donoghue offset these absences somewhat by all being available for selection once more.
He had really settled in well to the Munster front row since joining from the Crusaders late last year, and it remains to be seen whether Munster’s upsurge at set piece and maul time will continue in his absence.
It is not all negative, however, and the Munster spine of Mike Haley, Antoine Frisch, Joey Carbery, Casey, Gavin Coombes, Snyman, John Ryan and Niall Scannell should ensure that it will take a huge effort from the Ospreys to take the Munster scalp on this occasion.
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