One ugly Friday night moment summed up the dull, insipid, uninspired van Graan era
The more things change, the more they stay the same in Irish provincial rugby judging by Friday night’s evidence in Dublin. Covid-era rugby at the Aviva wasn’t a barrel of laughs. Gone were the usual trappings of a major sport event: the fans, the lashings of pints, the nibbles, the colourful cacophony of noise usually present for these Leinster vs Munster Guinness PRO14 derbies.
Instead, there was sterility. Temperature checking, social distancing, mask-wearing in a forlorn stadium with 50,000 empty seats. Then the post-game kicker arrived, the coaches delivering their thoughts via a hazy Microsoft Teams connection from a basement room five floors beneath the media box.
It was all weirdly different, yet the reason for being there was all weirdly familiar, Leinster doing to Munster what they have long been doing now in the Irish capital – giving them the short shrift and shunting them back down the M7 with nothing more than the feeling of despair.
Getting mugged in Dublin is nothing new. Friday night was the 15th time in 16 visits since 2009 that Munster had fallen to Leinster and you have to wonder about the accountability. Where has the straight-talking, the look yourself in the mirror type of candid reflection gone?
No sooner had the grounds people appeared on the PRO14 pitch to begin its conversion into a football pitch for an international game on Sunday was CJ Stander below in the stadium bowels delivering the hard to swallow Munster message that “we are in a very good spot – this group can push hard next season”.
There was simply no stopping @leinsterrugby once again tonight as @Munsterrugby couldn't land a blow ?
Here's how #LEIvMUN went down at the Aviva ?? https://t.co/WXy9rSM4XG
Catch all the #GuinnessPRO14 Semi-final highlights on https://t.co/atgEcvPXRc pic.twitter.com/hW0zsDpQpj
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) September 4, 2020
Push hard where exactly? The sobering reality of this ugly PRO14 semi-final spectacle was how it brought confirmation of how Munster are stuck in a time loop that just repeats over and over. There is no real evidence of growth in the three years Johann van Graan has been at the helm. Leinster won this without ever needing to zip through the gears, rendering recent analysis that Munster have somehow adapted their game plan as blarney.
With it, an amusing Twitter account soon popped up on the timeline, MurraysBoxKick tweeting: “989 vertical metres tonight. Pretty happy with that.” It was part of the overall consensus that Munster had punted away too much possession, a monotonous tactic when you have an attack coach of the calibre of Stephen Larkham on your roster these past twelve months.
Truth be told, though, Munster didn’t definitively lose this in the skies – their tally of 36 kicks from the hand was only three more than Leinster’s 33. Instead, where they gave a very poor second best was in the hard yards traffic, their pack – the eight starters and the bench cavalry – making a paltry ten metres from 27 carries.
Contrast that with Leinster’s 45 metres from 48 carries. In an ugly game of inches, this made all the difference, and the Munster negligence was encapsulated in the final act, replacement hooker Kevin O’Byrne aimlessly grubber kicking into touch rather than carrying and trying to create. That one moment summed up the van Grann era – dull, insipid, uninspired and no closer to getting over the repeated semi-final hump.
Whereas van Graan has now lost five of these last-four fixtures (three in the league, two in Europe), Leinster remain the beacon on how to learn from your mishaps. It was 2017 when they crashed and burned in the European and league last four, suckered by Clermont and Scarlets. Since then? All five semi-final fixtures have been clinically won. Like Ronseal, one of the PRO14’s subsidiary sponsors, they do exactly what they say on their tin – hang tough, deliver results. They know their game.
“Pretty ugly stuff, ugly contest, but we’re through,” chirped Leo Cullen in Friday’s aftermath. Spot on. Now for next Saturday’s final back at the Aviva.
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments