The Luck of The Irish!

By Chris Chaplin
April 14 2003

I watched this afternoon’s Heineken Cup Semi-final and want to cite the luck of the Irish in Munster achieving their victory at Welford Road.

Sadly I can do no such thing. True Munster came to niggle, kick and get away with what they could and it was quite remarkable that the Tigers’ players’ discipline held out until the lat minute of the game when Johnno’s frustration finally boiled over. However the Irish Province deserved their win over the double back to back holders of the European Cup.

Tigers performance was redolent of so many that we’ve seen this season with the forwards toiling away and as the match statistics showed they had the majority of the possession but once again failed to turn it into points.

It was surprising that the referee did not deal more harshly with the Munster front row in the first half as they persistently popped up in the scrums and failed to maintain their binding. In the scrum the Tigers front row had an edge although the Irish trio were much more enthusiastic in the loose and were sharper and keener at the breakdown.

The line-outs, usually a strength, saw more losses by Tigers than I can ever remember. In part this was due to some wayward throwing from Dorian West and in part from the immense pressure that the Irish put on Tigers’ jumpers. Again the Munster players persistently closed the gap but this was a relatively minor issue and the fact that they played on the edge of legality and sometimes over it without sanction says much for their now more street-wise attitude in that they made the most of their opportunities and played as well against Tigers in this area as any I’ve seen.

Neil Back had a decent enough game but Will Johnson looked out of his depth and although Corry played well, aside from the missed tackle that let O’Gara in for his try. The Irish trio looked much the better until Balding and later Kronfeld came on when the Tigers’ play brightened markedly and Corry’s move to the second row. Quite why Josh didn’t start is another of Deano’s decisions that will remain a mystery. Presumably the additional bulk of Johnson Junior was felt necessary but I believe the dynamism of Kronfeld was sadly missed. Once again Munster played on and often over the edge but that’s what has to be done at this level and unlike the incessant whinging of Munster’s supporters last year you’ll hear no complaint from me that they were so successful in their endeavours.

In my preview I said that Jim Williams was the danger man and so he was, having a towering and influential game, ably aided by Foley, who was back to his best after his woeful showing against England, and Quinlan, who spent so much time infringing I thought at times he should have worn a Tigers’ shirt. All in all it was here that the Irish got the edge, only looking under any palpable threat when Kronfeld and Balding made incisive runs later on.

Deano kept the same selection of backs as in the Sale game, only the fourth time this season that the same assembly of players has been carried from one game to it’s successor. Tierney came under immense pressure from Quinlan in particular, who if not repeatedly offside must have the speed of a letter day Ben Johnson out of the blocks, but notwithstanding this Tierney didn’t look settled all afternoon with too many passes going to ground and he failed to put Stringer under any consistent pressure, the Munster scrum-half not really sparkling until he took a shoo in try late on in the second half but his passing, in that strange cack-handed way of his, was accurate and he rightly kept it simple. Ellis, when he came on, looked so much brighter, self assured and more sparky than the far more experienced Tierney and didn’t look like a player who’s been sidelined by injury for so long.

Oz was back but seriously below par, by turn failing to ignite his backs, passing poorly and repeatedly taking the wrong options and when he went off injured, after initially trying to play on at #10 when he could hardly walk, Vesty showed what more direct play could achieve as the pack, led by Josh, Balding and Johnno poured through to support the platforms that he created.

With Kafer still absent injured Fred retained his place but was just too one dimensional and the Munster defence knew what he’d do in attack - take it into contact and they double teamed him to halt his progress. Of course this should have created holes but the Tigers’ support play was often too slow and invariably imprecise, although this too improved when Ellis and Vesty came on. Leon tried hard but again is similar to Fred in that the opposition defence knew that he’d likely take the ball into contact and acted accordingly.

With the centres failing to offload in the tackle or ideally just before the tackle the back three got too few opportunities. I thought that Henderson defended exceptionally well although his attacking presence was not really seen until the break that led to the second Munster try and which came from another missed tackle, this time from a statuesque Fred, after which it was all up. It was probably fortunate that O’Gara made very few of his trademark bursts and was not at his best with the boot either but he took his try well evading Martin Corry’s tackle.

Geordan was secure under the high ball and tried all his tricks but essentially he did not get enough ball in space but when he did he made a nice try for Booth to sharply finish. Booth otherwise suffered from RL player’s blight, taking the ball into contact, his passing was also inaccurate and he was too flat in attack. I know he’s a fine and tricky runner but again he held the ball for too long even when.his options were being closed down by the excellent Munster defence.

Stimmo, so often Tigers’ saviour, had a very bad day at the office missing 12 points with the boot, which on 99% of days he’d have nabbed and which summed up his afternoon really. Had those points been taken following constant cheating by the Munster forwards (oh sorry I forget only Tigers’ players cheat - apologies to any Munster supporters reading this) then the game might have looked very different. In the end the 12 points were just less than the winning margin - thank goodness for that otherwise Tim may have harboured all sorts of unjustified thoughts!

We actually saw little of the Munster back three in attack as the Irish played a tight forward orientated attack to good effect but they certainly defended well.

So it was not the luck of the Irish but some good pragmatic professional play that won it for the perennial bridesmaids of the HEC and good luck to them for pulling it off.

They watched Llanelli’s game-plan last year and how near the Scarlets came to beating us and executed the same strategy to perfection.

They now go to Toulouse, who I saw beat Saints on Saturday without the Frenchmen playing at anything like their best, so we’ll see how the Munster side do down there and whether it will be an all Irish or all French final at Lansdowne Road. If an Irish team is going to win the cup this time then I rather hope it is Munster at last, having been beaten by Saints, dumped out by a Lander decision and then roundlt beaten by Tigers during the last three years, I suppose it is buggins turn. Although it would be a hoot if the semi was reffed by Lander wouldn’t it?

What of Tigers then? Beaten by a side at their own game so no complaints. Really this match summed up the 2002/3 season for me, plenty of grunt and commitment from the forwards but an inaccurate and confused display from the backs who still look, at times, as if this was the first time they’d met each other.

Now it’s don’t blink until the end of the season and let’s see if anything can be salvaged via the play-offs or the Wildcard competition to secure another shot at the HEC in 2003/4.