Munster have been urged to embrace the expectation that comes with being top seeds as they prepare for a home URC quarter-final with Ospreys on Friday night.
Going into this season’s play-offs as first-place finishers in the regular season standings, and with a path to the June 22 decider that will not require any travel away from Thom*ond Park is in stark contrast to the scenario that was laid out before Graham Rowntree’s men 13 months ago as they prepared for a last-eight trip to Glasgow Warriors.
Munster had completed the 2022-23 league campaign 24 points off the pace set by table toppers Leinster, sneaking into the knockout stages with an unlikely win at the Stormers and a draw at the Sharks. As fifth seeds they faced a daunting quarter-final trip to a Glasgow side that had put 38 points past them at Thom*ond Park just six weeks earlier.
The rest, as they say, is history, Munster not only won at Scotstoun but repeated the trick in Dublin by knocking out Leinster in the semi-final a week later before travelling long-haul to Cape Town and lifting the trophy following a 19-14 Grand Final victory over hometown favourites the Stormers.
Fast forward to this week and as preparations for welcoming the eighth-seeded Ospreys to Limerick continue, defence coach Denis Leamy believes the requirements for the Munster squad have altered somewhat.
“Well, it’s very different, isn’t it? We have just finished top of the table and we are champions, so it is very different,” Leamy said.
“Last year we went into the quarter-finals having come back from South Africa having gotten seven points against expectations.
“I think expectation-wise there wasn’t but there was certainly belief in our group, as there is today but it’s very different in terms of how we are seen and how we are viewed from the outside.
“I think that’s something we just need to embrace and understand that when you finish top of the log, there is going to be that expectation.
“That’s just probably a little challenge that we need to navigate as a team and understand the bits around having to play as favourites.
“And that’s okay. It doesn’t change anything, it’s just dealing with it and understanding that we still have to go through our processes, we still have to stay calm to execute and believe in what we do.
“And what we do is good, it’s really good. It’s about trusting that.”
Munster have every right to feel confident having finished the URC regular season with nine consecutive victories since a January 1 loss at Connacht, when the squad had been decimated by injuries to key players. That defeat in Galway was a third in a row following a home derby defeat to Leinster, which had been preceded by a Champions Cup pool loss at Exeter Chiefs.
That Munster have collected 44 of a possible 45 match points from the nine matches to rise to top spot from 10th place on January 6 has put the defending champions in pole position but Leamy stressed nothing was being taken for granted following such a morale-boosting run of results.
“We have obviously had a number of injuries earlier in the season and it became difficult. That’s the one aspect.
“The way we want to play the game, we are coming into summer time, we are a possession based team, we want to move the ball.
“To be quite honest with you, there are games during the season where you just cannot play. You think of Connacht on New Year’s Day, it was a monsoon.
“We have still got to work out the sweet spot there in how we play in wet weather, but the improving seasons has helped as well.
“The fitness and the ability of our players is improving all the time through training and the game-plan we are trying to set out. So, it’s all very positive.
“But it doesn’t count for anything does it, until you actually go out and win big games in knockout rugby. It’s a great challenge and it’s where we want to be.
“The first quarter-final in Limerick for a while, you’d be hoping that the fans really turn out. We badly need a crowd there. You just hope that we get a big crowd and as always they will be outstanding for us.”
