Munster Rugby Talking Points: Lack of depth has been a huge issue all season
JJ Hanrahan can't orchestrate the Munster attack the same way Jack Crowley does. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
Munster’s season, and possibly next season too, is on the line on Saturday night as 6th placed Munster host fifth-placed Lions at Thomond Park with everything from a home quarter-final to elimination being on the table in the URC’s crucial final round of fixtures.
After two big wins over Benetton and Ulster, Munster were back in crisis mode last weekend with a nebbish display up in Galway in the 26-7 defeat against Connacht and now face a lunge for the line in the competition’s final round with play-off places and qualification for Europe next year up for grabs.
It might be an oversimplification, but currently it feels that if Jack Crowley starts a game, then Munster can compete with any club in Europe, whereas if he is absent a loss feels almost inevitable.
Munster have struggled when JJ Hanrahan and Tony Butler have played at out-half in this campaign and that was extremely evident in Galway last weekend when Munster looked miles off the pace with Hanrahan pulling, or rather not pulling, the strings.
The number 10 and three positions are arguably the two most important positions on a rugby pitch and Munster have gone through the entire campaign without the required quality at out-half or tight head, bar Crowley, and this has shown in the results since November.
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Having missed last weekend’s game with a knock, at the time of writing Crowley was deemed “a strong possibility”, as head coach Clayton McMillan claimed “it’s just a niggly injury” when referring to his injury issue.
Quite simply, unless he is crocked, Crowley must play, as this game is far too important to play with an underperforming 10 at the helm.
Of course, this game is occurring with the cloud of recent controversies hanging over the club, with the future of almost all the leading decision makers at Munster seemingly hanging in the balance right now.
The recent storm, and public relations disaster, over the Roger Randal appointment as attack coach has yet to fully play out, with the upcoming Independent Governance and Organisational Review of Munster Rugby likely to bring answers, if not some closure.
It is unclear whether Clayton McMillan will remain at the helm in the long-term although in an interview this week in the lead-up to this game he appeared bullish stating “I don’t easily run away from a fight” and “I’m not thinking about running away but I can’t do the job on my own”.
It would certainly help McMillan, and everyone else, around the club, if Champions Cup rugby could be guaranteed for next year at the weekend, as the financial implications of missing out would be dire.
European qualification, and a cut off the play-offs, would also go a long way in terms of dissipating the negativity currently surrounding the club.
One major advantage that Munster have this weekend is that will know exactly what they require from this fixture come kick off.
Going into the final round only two points separate Munster and the three sides just below them in the table - Cardiff, Ulster and Connacht – and all three of them play on Friday night meaning Clayton McMillan’s side will know the state of play on Saturday evening.
If all three were to win Munster would kick off their game against the Lions in ninth and probably require victory. However, even one defeat, for Ulster specifically, might not be enough.
Given Munster’s recent luck it wouldn’t be a surprise if they lost on Saturday and ended up in 8th spot in the table and having to face the extremely costly trip to South Africa for the quarter-final. And to top that off Ulster would come ninth and then go and win the Challenge Cup, thereby nabbing the final qualification spot for the Champions Cup next year from Munster’s grasp.
That is real worst-case scenario stuff, but a grim possibility, nonetheless. A win at the weekend would ensure that awful outcome cannot happen
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