Munster Rugby Talking Points: No room for errors in race for URC playoffs
Ben O'Connor of Munster on his way to scoring his side's third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Edinburgh at Virgin Media Park in Cork. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Munster make the daunting trip to Scotstoun on Friday evening to face reigning URC champions the Glasgow Warriors looking to snare some vital points that would keep them in the hunt for the much sought-after playoff places.
All of Munster’s top five back three options are currently on the treatment table, meaning it’s real bare-bones stuff right now at wing and full=back.
Mike Haley, Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, Diarmuid Kilgallen and Thaakir Abrahams are all at various stages of their recoveries, as the rosary beads are out to pray for a couple of them to be available for the Champions Cup trip to La Rochelle in a few weeks.
They might be needed, as Ben O’Connor and Shay McCarthy, who struggled against Edinburgh the last day, are the only fit specialists left in the squad, although there is the option of diverting the likes of Sean O’Brien or Ben Brownlee to the wing, if necessary.
We can certainly expect Glasgow to test the Munster back three’s robustness with their kicking game both in the air and in behind on Friday.
The defeat on Leeside to Edinburgh in the last round was a real momentum killer for Munster, as it now probably leaves them too far back to target a top-four spot in the table.
They go into the weekend in fifth place, but six points off the Sharks in fourth. A look in the other direction in the table shows that Ulster, way down in 14th place, are just six points behind Munster, so obviously it will be much easier to drop down the table than to climb it from here on in.
A visit to second-place Glasgow is about as tough a fixture as Munster can have right now, and it would take an excellent performance to grab one of those famous Munster wins on the road, especially considering how bad Munster were on their last competitive showing.
Ian Costello’s side have had three weeks now to lick their wounds since the disappointing 28-34 defeat to Edinburgh at Virgin Media Park in their last URC fixture.
Munster were expected to tot up another five-pointer in that one, but they came completely unstuck, with them being 22 points down at half-time, and in truth, they can feel fortunate to have taken two bonus points away from that loss.
Three weeks would appear to be ample time to remedy the problems from that night, because if it is the same again then it will be a long night in Scotstoun.
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