David Corkery on rugby: Munster top brass have a lot to answer for, too many players just aren't good enough
Munster's Jack Crowley and Craig Casey dejected after the loss to Exeter. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Just when we thought Munster had hit the bottom of the pit, another woeful performance brings them to a new low.
May I just remind people that this latest humiliation against the Exeter Chiefs wasn’t even in the elite section of Europe...
In layman’s terms, the Challenge Cup is the B section. Walking off the pitch at half-time with the scoreboard reading 31-0, painted a very bleak picture as to where exactly they stand.
This once mighty organisation announced they were implementing a cost-saving strategy by looking for voluntary redundancies for their non-playing staff recently. Well, may I be as bold to suggest that they now extend this scheme to the players as well, because they are nowhere near good enough at this level, not to mention the top tier.
May I also suggest the top brass consider their own positions?
Letting staff go who organise travel, answer phones, wash gear, cut the grass, coach kids or cook food will have no impact whatsoever on results. In fact, it will probably make things a hell of a lot worse because without these people who work tirelessly at the coal face of the sport, the entire structure becomes very fragile.
The waiting game for Munster to reinvent themselves is now well and truly over.
Even with all of the Irish internationals back to bolster the team, Munster still got taught a lesson when it came to power, skill and game management. If the hosts had taken all the chances they were gifted, the score would have been a hell of a lot worse.
You might argue Munster won the second half three tries to nil, but when you are so far ahead in any sport, your focus starts to slip.
Apart from Jack Crowley, Tadhg Beirne, Alex Nankivell and Ben O’Connor, there was no other Munster player on the field that would come within touching distance of making Exeter’s match day 23.
Probably what surprised me the most was the physical dominance that the English side displayed.
In attack, the Exeter backs, especially wingers Paul Brown-Bampoe and Immanuel Feyi-Wabose, left shades of Jonah Lomu trailing behind them as they steamrolled over Munster’s pitiful attempts to halt their advances.
Just before the half-time whistle was sounded, Feyi-Wabose scored the kind of try that you might only see once in every season and at just 23 years of age. It won’t be too long before he adds a few more international caps to the baker’s dozen he already has to his name.
The Munster backrow were also completely outplayed on this occasion. I don’t know how much more time players like Jack O’Donoghue and Gavin Coombes should be given as first-choice starters.
Coombes may have all the physical attributes that are needed to become a world-class player. Yet if you don’t have that little bit of dog in you that makes opposing players dread the thought of playing against you, your status will never change from good to great.
Edwin Edogbo was also a big disappointment for me.
I’d really like to think that Edogbo will live up to all the hype that surrounded his much-deserved cameo in the Six Nations. However, on this occasion, he was nowhere to be seen and that is just not good enough.
Munster are currently lying in seventh place in the URC table with only four games remaining in the normal season, which are Benneton (A), Ulster (H), Connacht (A) and the Emirates Lions (H).
Finish outside the top eight and that means no Champions Cup next year.
If that were happen, God only knows where the province could end up.
Are Munster now the new Connacht of Irish rugby?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes.
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