David Corkery on rugby: Munster running to stand still in current Irish system
Jordan Larmour of Leinster takes on Munster's Gavin Coombes at Thomond Park. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
No consistency, no line-out, no defensive staying power, no authentic attack strategy, little or no guidance from the stand, a tenuous scrum and no on-field leadership whatsoever.
This might sound like a very long list of things that Munster need to sort but there are probably another half dozen issues you could add. And most of those come from those who implement the province's short, medium and long-term policies.
I’m sick to my back teeth of listening to people saying Munster are in a transitional period or they’ve just been unlucky with injuries and coaches.
This 28-7 trashing now stands as Munster's biggest defeat to the old enemy in well over a decade. And it’s the sixth time on the bounce that Leinster have come to Limerick and left laughing back up the motorway.
To even try to comprehend that Leinster have now won 14 out of the last 16 encounters is just depressing. To make it even more miserable there is no sign of any kind of a level playing field in the near or distant future.
The logical option would be to blame the players or current coaching ticket, but that would be like duplicating what transpires in the soccer across the water when a side flops. That’s taking the easy option and on this occasion, it is not the answer.
Put it this way if Munster were a financial institution where shareholders had invested their monies, the main heads would have rolled a very long time ago until stability and growth were established.
With 100% conviction, I can tell you that every single player and coach on Friday night gave everything they had to the cause. Some might argue that they could have done more, but trust me they really couldn’t.
With 'consistently' being the key here.
Yes they will always win the odd game here and there and we have a few top-class players who can mix it with the best such as Jack Crowley, Calvin Nash, Tadgh Beirne (as a player but not as a captain), John Hodnett, Craig Casey, Shane Daly, Tom Ahern, Alex Nankivell and Gavin Coombes, but after that, the province is struggling.
It would be reprehensible of me not to mention Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Stephen Archer, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan and the Scannell brothers, who are top class too.
Given their ages though, their contributions will soon be a thing of the past.
I can tell you now that there will be no quick fix to Munster’s tribulations because even if you employed the services of Rassie Erasmus as your coach and Antoine Dupont as your scrum-half and captain, it would make little or no difference.
The only thing that can press the restart button in Munster now is a complete independent and transparent study of what is happening with the structures that go into making up the senior squad.
Everything from what is transpiring in the underage sections in the clubs, academies, universities and especially schools needs to be surveyed and transformed accordingly.
The funding structures that are implemented by the IRFU and the way the province can fundraise from external sources must be slackened to allow for historic debts to be paid off and for proper infrastructures to be established in every school and club around the province.
Without change and the proper implementation of fit-for-purpose foundations, Munster rugby will just continue to plod along winning the odd game here and there and those who only know little else apart from taking the easy option will continue to feed us with the same kind of crap for years to come.
This might be a hard read for some, but it’s as honest as I can express myself at this worrying time for Munster Rugby.
Happy New Year to all... I think!
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