So Munster are out of the Champions Cup for the second time in succession. To be beaten is one thing but that was one of the worst performances in there long famed European history. They honestly looked like a team that put together in a hurry in the pub just before kick off , No game plan , no real idea how to attack Stade when the opportunity’s arose. The scrum went backwards from minute one and as soon as BJ Botha had to leave the field with a leg injury it looked like Stade were going to just squeeze the life out of Munster which they did in the 2nd half.
This was to put it mildly the worse Munster performance of the lot, no character, no idea, no passion, although I feel there has been a lack of passion for a while. This performance has been coming for a while. It was made a hell of a lot worse by the fact Stade Francais went down to 14 men with the sending off of there right winger for gouging the eye of CJ Stander. The Munster performance was so poor that none of the players can really hold their heads high.
This performance can be viewed in two ways , it can be used as the moment that the whole of the Munster season goes down the drain or the branch can act and relieve Anthony Foley of his duties and try and find a short term solution until the season ends. The Munster brand has been built on, Pride, Passion and those two qualities were severely lacking in particular game.
Anthony Foley was installed as Munster coach back in 2014 as the successor to Rob Penney, remember him!! He had been forwards coach under Penney, In Penney’s time in charge Munster made two European Semi Finals and he was sacked for trying to change the way they play. What the supporters and team would give for a European Semi Final now. The men that Foley has around him are not up to the job either. Brian Walsh was the head coach at Cork Con but was given the backs job at Munster without any prior experience, Mick O Driscoll and Jerry Flannery were promoted from within, with no prior coaching experience. As a number of people have said, it really is an old boys club in the coaching department.
Looking to the future both short and long term , it doesn’t look too good , two rounds left in Europe to try and find some sort of form heading into the rest of the Pro 12. Like last season the players need to find it within themselves a way to try and come back from a huge kick in the teeth like today’s game in Paris. The Munster Myth is now gone forever and it is time for the Branch to take a long hard look at the whole organisation. If this was a business like Ryanair, after missing two key targets, you would be shown the door.
Time for the Branch to act to try and STOP THE ROT!!
By
Cian Mc Gibney
09/01/2016
