David Corkery on Munster rugby: Bath test a true indication of progress

They say that timing is everything in sport.

Well, if that’s the case, Munster could not have chosen a worse time to lose their first competitive game.

Last weekend Clayton McMillan and his players went head-to-head with the only other undefeated team in this season's United Rugby Championship. The South African Stormers.

Shorn by many of their international first-choice players, the visitors to Thomond Park were always going to be up against it and by half-time Munster had raced away into a 21-6 lead. However, as soon as the Stormers coach John Dobson unleashed five of his biggest forwards from the bench just after half-time, the entire complexion of the game was flipped on its head.

It was almost like someone had flicked a switch and the dominance that Munster had enjoyed in the opening half vanished like a puff of smoke in the chilly Limerick air.

In a similar fashion to what the Springboks did to Ireland seven days previous, the tourists turned the Munster scrum into a complete liability even on their own feed, and the authority that the men in red commanded on the tackle line in the first half was turned into a sloppy version of a wet paper bag as the South African hulking forwards punched hole after hole.

As the famous red jersey always demands, Munster fought hard. However, in the end, McMillan and his players were simply overpowered and so it came to pass that the New Zealander went on to suffer his first competitive loss since joining the province in February.

Focus now changes to the Northern Hemisphere's primary competition and McMillan will get his first true taste of European Cup rugby, and no better place than amongst the rolling hills in the south west of England.

Yes, next up for McMillan and co is a daunting trip to Bath who just happen to be the current premiership champions.

Guided by former Munster coach Johann Van Graan, Bath seem to have flourished under his somewhat non-adventurous style of coaching. While he led Munster to five semi-finals and a final, he never went on to win a trophy.

TACTICIAN

Viewed by some as a very clever tactician, Van Graan will have watched how his fellow countrymen ambushed Munster last weekend and you can be sure he will be looking to do something similar.

In complete contrast to Munster’s fortunes of last week, Bath were battling away against Saracens and faced first-half deficits of 14-0 and 22-10.

Turning into the second period of the game only five points down, they blitzed their hosts to emerge 36-29 winners and apart from leaving Saracens with a fist full of points, they will have filled their boots with an abundance of confidence ahead of Saturday's tie.

Pulling the strings in the number 10 jersey for Bath will be one of the highest-paid players the game has ever entertained. Scotland’s Finn Russell is unquestionably a magical talent and if allowed the space and time to work his visionary abilities, he will have the Munster players scratching their heads and wondering what just happened far more often than they can afford.

The key to keeping Russell quiet will be reducing the amount of time he gets clean ball in his hands and to do this the Munster backrow must hunt him down as if their very lives depended on getting to him.

A picture of Jack Crowley waiting for a scan, wearing a medical support boot and accompanied by crutches appeared on social media on Tuesday which sent shivers down the spine of many Munster supporters. Hopefully, the measures were just precautionary and Crowley will get the opportunity to go toe to toe with Russell.

The arrival of the Samoan front row Michael Ala’alatoa from the French top 14 club Clermont Auvergne will be a very welcome addition to Munster, albeit if McMillan has to rely on a player that another club deems surplus to requirements, I can’t see the 34-year-old making a massive difference to the team’s overall success.

If, at the very minimum, he can lock down the scrum, he will be worth his weight in gold. I can really see the Bath front five going after Munster’s scrum from the off though.

The outcome of this game will give us a very good indication as to just how far Munster have progressed under their new coach, because this is the only competition that Munster should be judged on.