MUNSTER’S NEXT OPPONENT are bottom of the Pro12 and have a name synonymous with relatively easy pickings. But defeat to Connacht means that Munster won’t be wanting for intensity and focus, insists Simon Zebo.
The reasons for that aren’t so much down to Zebre themselves, however. Munster have momentum to build and bigger fish to fry in the do-or-die Champions Cup meeting with Saracens on 17 January.
“We need to go over there with a point to prove because we didn’t perform well in our last game and nothing less than a win will be acceptable,” wing Simon Zebo told Red FM’s Big Red Bench.
“Just one or two errors coupled with system errors [brought defeat to Connacht].
“We didn’t take enough opportunities when we had them in the first half, we didn’t use the conditions and the unbelievable strong gale to our advantage. But we know what we’ve done wrong and we know what we need to do to get the win this weekend.”
The possibility, however slim, that the province may be able to include Keith Earls and James Cronin after injury lay-offs should give impetus to Anthony Foley’s side after the New Year’s Day nightmare in Galway. And a win in Parma would go some way to solidifying confidence before heading to England.
“It’s going to be a massive game. We’ll be looking to build momentum over this block of games coming up and we need to right our performance. We certainly didn’t do too good last week, so we need to get a bit of momentum and, fingers crossed, we can get a win and four points at the end of the day.”
Posed with the theory that the fixture is a no-win game for the visitors due to the quality of the hosts, Zebo pointed to the wins that the Pro12′s newest club had managed on their own turf this season and a style of play that is built on disruption.
“There seems to be that perception a lot, but you know they’ve got their bruisers.
“They’ve got hostile atmosphere and they’ve already taken some scalps over there – Ulster, Edinburgh – and they’ve run a lot of teams really close. I think if you take them for granted, especially at home, then you’ll leave with egg on your face.
“So we’ll be going out to put in a big performance because we know we’ve got a massive task ahead in the next couple of weeks and it all starts with Zebre this weekend.”
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