MUNSTER LEGEND RONAN O’Gara is confident his former province have strong first-team pillars in place but admits to concerns about the squad’s depth ahead of their Champions Cup campaign.
Munster’s rich history in Europe includes two Heineken Cup titles in 2006 and 2008, although O’Gara suggests it would be unfair for current head coach Anthony Foley to be judged against those achievements.
Gone are the days when Munster could sign experienced internationals like Doug Howlett, Jim Williams and Jean de Villers; now Munster must rely on lower-profile additions and their latest crop of home-grown talent.
There exists a perception that this Munster squad is not quite of the same quality as that which saw them dominate in Europe in their trophy-winning era, one with which O’Gara concurs.
I think it’s important to make that point for Axel – I don’t think he’s working with as strong a squad that has been there in the so-called dominant years. But there were exceptional players around that time, so it’s hard.
“There’s definitely people putting their hand up. I think the starting Munster team will be really strong, just their strength in depth if there’s injuries would worry me a little bit. If you take for sure that the attitude will be right, the motivation levels will be right.
“They have two exceptional leaders in O’Connell and O’Mahony. I think you’ll have Conor Murray dictating – those are very, very strong pillars of your team. Everything is possible with that, but people are probably judging Axel off what has happened in the past.
“The players, particularly the signings mightn’t have been as strong as the Jim Williams, the de Villiers, the Doug Howletts. It’s up to fellas like [Andrew] Smith, people like that, to show us otherwise.”
Ahead of Saturday’s Pool 1 opener way to Sale, O’Gara admits to having been impressed with the Munster game plan in their victory over Leinster two weekends ago. The Racing Métro coach believes the more direct approach points to clarity on Foley’s part.
I suppose the most important thing is that he knows exactly how he wants to play. How successful Munster will be will be dependent on how well the coaching staff get that message across.
“It seems to me very simple and very effective. That’s Axel inside out, that’s how he would have played himself – doing the right thing at the right time. I think he will demand success out of his players and hopefully he’ll get it.”
Having hopefully negotiated a win over Sale, Munster will turn their attention to Saracens in round two. That they welcome the English side to Thomond Park for that game is an obvious advantage.
The crucial December double-headers in Pool 1 see Munster clash with Top 14 outfit Clermont, of whom O’Gara says: “At times they look exceptional and at other times they’re not so exceptional.”
He points to the addition of French international Camille Lopez as having brought an “interesting dynamic” to the Clermont set-up, where Brock James had previously been first-choice out-half.
O’Gara’s hope for Munster is that they will travel to Clermont in December with wins over Sale and Saracens already in the bag. European momentum is the key.
At that stage, Munster could be two out of two. In this thing, and Axel knows it more than anyone else, you just take one game, then park it, then next game.
“Because your whole mindset changes, either hugely improves or goes to your head, depending on the result.”
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Dad of five and Ireland and Munster Rugby legend, Ronan O’Gara is leading out the Ben’s Beginners programme, which seeks to encourage Irish mums and dads to get cooking with their children, and nurture a lifelong love for wholesome food.
