Munster go into this clash against a side prepared by former Irish forwards coach John Plumtree on the back of successive losses to Leinster and the Stormers. Add in the shock defeat away to Zebre in the second round and another loss would represent a poor return of just two wins – at home against Connacht and Ospreys – from this opening block of six games in the URC.
The last time Munster fell to three league defeats in a row came at the end of 2015 during a bad run of results which also included back-to-back losses to Leicester Tigers in the Champions Cup.
A loss to Connacht at Thomond Park in November 2015 was followed by a 22-6 defeat away to the Dragons and then after twice going down to the Tigers, they fell to a 17-6 setback away to Leinster. The run of defeats ended with a 9-7 win in Belfast against Ulster in early January 2016.
Munster head coach Graham Rowntree, who has had to deal with an enormous injury list since the summer, knows they let a winning hand slip from their grasp in the final quarter against the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend. He is expecting a similar battle this weekend.
“I think it will be up there with last week,” said Rowntree. “I thought the Stormers played very well. It was their first home game, they were very physical, and we’re expecting the same this week. These two opponents, Stormers and Sharks, we know them quite well from encounters in the last couple of years. Knowing what they bring is one thing, dealing with it is another. That’s what we’ve been practising this week.”
Two of the changes are in the backline. Craig Casey returns from injury and takes over at scrumhalf, with Conor Murray returning to Ireland for personal reasons. Rory Scannell comes into the centre and Seán O’Brien switches to the left wing, with Shane Daly ruled out with a leg injury picked up in the 34-19 loss last weekend to the Stormers.
Another casualty from that game, loosehead Jeremy Loughman, is replaced by John Ryan, who switches over from tighthead with Stephen Archer coming in at number three.
Prop cover for the two starting 36-year-olds will be provided by two academy players. Shannon’s 22-year-old Kieran Ryan is set for his sixth appearance, while 21-year-old Ronan Foxe from Rahugh in Co Westmeath, a product of the Midland Warriors club in Moate and Tullamore RFC, is poised for his senior debut.
John Hodnett comes in at openside with Alex Kendellen included on a six-two bench which sees hooker Diarmuid Barron available after going through the return-to-play protocols. Backline cover will be provided by Ethan Coughlan and Billy Burns.
Plumtree, whose side lost to Connacht and Edinburgh either side of a win over Dragons, defeated champions Glasgow Warriors 28-24 last weekend after returning home from their trip to Europe. Their win was more decisive than the scoreline would suggest, with the champions scoring 12 points in the final two minutes.
Plumtree has made three changes but it is the positional switch of Springboks captain Siya Kolisi from blindside flanker to number eight which is most notable. It comes at the end of a week where Kolisi’s divorce announcement from his wife of eight years, Rachel, has dominated media headlines throughout South Africa.
“He’s fine and looking forward to the weekend,” Plumtree told reporters in Durban. “He’s had a really good week and trained well. It’s his own personal business and it’s really got nothing to do with us.”
Sharks v Munster Match Preview
This always looked a tough assignment for the southern province and so it has proved with Sharks taking the lead after less than a minute and wrapping up their try bonus in just 37 minutes.
Still, with two tries already on the board, Munster could eye up four scores of their own in the second half.
Munster's Struggles
This time two years ago, Munster were in a serious bind. Having succeeded Johann van Graan as head coach, Graham Rowntree and a new-look backroom team encountered choppy waters in their first campaign, losing five of their opening seven fixtures in the URC.
The province were floundering in 12th place in the league standings by mid-October, with words like ‘crisis’ and ‘turmoil’ doing the rounds.
Never mind chat about winning a trophy, Munster were going to struggle to make the URC play-offs, or qualify for the Champions Cup at this rate.
Amazingly, the province would go on to win the title after a remarkable late-season surge, claiming a first piece of silverware since 2011 and ending a dozen barren years in the process. Had the Reds – after so many years of turmoil – finally turned the corner?
If anything, that 2023 URC title triumph was something of a false dawn.
Rowntree’s side, in retrospect, overachieved and perhaps it raised expectations to unrealistic levels among the fanbase.
Two years on from that Lazarus-like season, this squad now find themselves in an eerily similar predicament.
The club are currently 11th in the URC table with just two wins in five league outings.
This afternoon, they face a star-studded Sharks side in Durban. The hosts have always been less than the sum of their parts and are currently two places below Munster in the table, but a quick glance at the team sheet suggests that this is a team that won’t be residing near the basement for much longer.
The Springbok-laden squad will be eyeing up the vulnerable visitors today. Any repeat of last week’s horror show in Cape Town will be ruthlessly punished by Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Co.
And that’s a real worry for this Munster squad. They look vulnerable in so many areas. In truth, they’ve looked out of sorts since the season began.
It’s not like this squad is lacking direction. Rowntree, Mike Prendergast, Denis Leamy and Andi Kyriacou have been doing brilliant work on the training pitch for the past three years.
Munster have been transformed into an ambitious, attack-minded squad in recent time. Rowntree also deserves immense credit for continually backing the stable of homegrown players who have come through the province’s own academy system. Tom Ahern, John Hondett and Calvin Nash, who all start today, have thrived on Rowntree’s watch.
There are plenty more who fall under the same category.
The real issue for this operation is resources. At this point in time, the Munster squad is worryingly lacking in depth and quality.
It’s been a gradual deterioration. Rowntree has continually sought to bring though young prospects, but there hasn’t been enough to paper over the cracks because too many high-calibre players have parted ways with the province in such a short space of time.
Simon Zebo, Andrew Conway and Keith Earls all retired. RG Snyman, Joey Carbery and Antoine Frisch left for new clubs.
There’s also an ageing cohort of players who are on the final laps of long careers. Stalwarts such as Stephen Archer and John Ryan. Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony are very much in that bracket.
Rowntree has tried to fill holes in this playing roster with some savvy recruitment. Alex Nankivell has been a superb signing. Ditto, Tom Farrell.
Thaakir Abrahams was another smart piece of business, but the lightning-quick South African wing is currently part of a sizeable crew of injured personnel.
A Lack of Resources
Rowntree needs reinforcements and he was on the record earlier this week stating the club desperately require some shortterm frontrow cover, with four loosehead props currently out of action. Ryan has moved over from tighthead to do an emergency shift, with academy prop Kieran Ryan providing cover.
Archer may need to go for another 80 minutes, with recent Emerging Ireland tourist Ronan Foxe in line for his debut at tighthead if called upon. It’s not an ideal scenario against a Sharks frontrow of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch. You won’t find a more powerful frontrow in the global game, and Munster‘s scrum could be in real trouble.
But what else can Rowntree can do? It’s not like he can go out and sign a stellar overseas prop such as Ethan de Groot, Frans Malherbe or Thomas Gallo. Munster don’t have the budget for such a purchase, and IRFU performance director David Humpheys has implemented a recruitment freeze on foreign frontrow signings from next summer onwards.
Munster might manage to get a medical joker over the line for a few months, but it’s highly unlikely that a modern-day Federico Pucciariello is going to pitch up at Thomond Park and revive their ailing set-piece.
Munster have issues in a few other departments. They are goosed if Jack Crowley picks up a knock at any stage. You could say the same about their captain Tadhg Beirne. The bench – replete with a host of academy players – looks especially callow against a Sharks team with such power and Test-match nous.
Sharks Ready to Pounce
For starters, John Plumtree’s charges were on the road for the first three rounds, losing to Connacht, the Dragons and Treviso, but they bared their teeth in Kings Park last weekend, beating Glasgow – the defending champions.
They have only recently got all their Springboks back on board and this is only their second home game thus far. They will field an imposing line-up today.
Jason Jenkins can’t even get into the starting pack, a crack unit of internationals forwards which should supply plenty of ball to a stacked backline featuring international regulars such as Aphelele Fassi, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen and Makazole Mapimpi.
This could be a long afternoon for Munster
A Much Needed Break
At least the November internationals. will give this squad a chance to take a breather and get some injured frontliners back, while the meeting with an All Blacks XV at Thomond Park next weekend should give the whole playing group a jolt.
But reality will bite again once December rolls around. It looks like this group will have to dig themselves out of an almighty hole in the months ahead. They’ve done it before and that will give them confidence to climb this mountain again.
Another Houdini act looks unlikely at this stage, however. Munster have too many problems, on and off the pitch, at the moment. They are going nowhere fast, and the Sharks are poised to provide another wake-up call.
