This would normally be the point in the PRO14 where Munster and the other Irish provinces would begin the leaning down process of playing test window rugby. Last November, while Ireland played Wales, England, Georgia and Scotland behind closed doors during the grind of the second lockdown, Munster played the Dragons, Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors and Zebre to earn 19 match points in the PRO14, scoring 20 tries. In the same window, Leinster earned 20 match points and scored 22 tries in four games. Ulster won 24 match points, scoring 24 tries in five games.
When you look at how Munster, Ulster and Leinster ran away with Conference A and B last season, we can’t discount the massive point accumulation of the test window periods. The way the season was structured, most of the provinces knew that you could rely on playing generally weaker opposition during these windows as the Scottish, Welsh and Italian sides would be without their internationals, who they are more dependent on for results relative to Munster/Ulster/Leinster. As we learned repeatedly, a bonus-point win earned in November counts exactly the same as an InterPro win at Christmas when it comes to points on the log so there was real value in these test window periods, not least because of the opportunity it gave you to spread game time around the squad.
A lot of the squad development Leinster have managed over the last few seasons has been directly related to the long stretches in November, February and March when they have been without their internationals. You used to have seven or eight games a season during these windows – with rest periods on either side for your internationals – so, in reality, a coach would have eleven or twelve games a season where they could rotate their squad, keep depth players engaged and promote younger talent in games they are quite likely to win and perform well in. It helped development, it helped contracting – because you could offer X number of games to down chart guys – and it was a massive factor in keeping the system flowing, all while building unassailable leads that all but guaranteed Champions Cup qualification and playoff rugby at worse, home semi-finals and easier progressions to trophy-winning scenarios at best.
But those days are gone, pretty much. Look at the team that Leinster have named for Friday’s game away to Glasgow. The new Shield system – and Glasgow having most of their test guys still available – make what would be a typical test window jaunt for Leinster’s depth guys and youngsters into a game those same players could easily lose against a strong Glasgow side, which would be a killer for them in the Irish Shield.
Munster, on the other hand, will get a flavour of the old test window feeling when we take on an Ospreys side depleted of their Welsh internationals because of the extra test match Wales are fitting in during this window. That doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed a win by any means but any time you can play a team that has the likes of Adam Beard, Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones without Adam Beard, Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones, you’re in with a good shot.
Whether we can take that shot remains to be seen.
Ospreys: 15. Max Nagy, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Owen Watkin, 12. Keiran Williams, 11. Mat Protheroe, 10. Stephen Myler, 9. Rhys Webb (c), 1. Nicky Smith, 2. Elvis Taione, 3. Tom Botha, 4. Bradley Davies, 5. Rhys Davies, 6. Sam Cross, 7. Jac Morgan, 8. Ethan Roots
Replacements: 16. Ifan Phillips, 17. Gareth Thomas, 18. Rhys Henry, 19. Jack Regan, 20. Morgan Morris, 21. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22. Joe Hawkins, 23. Dan Evans
There’s no denying that is a really exciting Munster selection.
Young talent everywhere, Lions and Springboks on the bench, and the beginnings of what Munster look like with a dedicated three-lock pack build. If Jason Jenkins and/or RG Snyman were available we might well have seen this a few rounds earlier but it’ll be good to see how the rubber hits the road, so to speak.
The benefits of a three lock pack build are pretty clear and the roles within it hint at possible style elements. We have selected two heavy support locks in the second row, an offensive half-lock and two combo flankers in this instance, with a power forward and a heavy wing forward on the bench that you can deploy for one of the heavy support locks and one of the combo flankers in the second half with a fair wind on the injury front.
What does a three lock pack give you? You load up on lineout efficiency on both sides of the throw, which gives you the freedom to kick long and to touch more often than if you were playing “small”. All five of our starting pack are primary jumping targets and three of them are elite counter-jumpers with space to transition to something different later in the game.
The lineout is an important facet of the modern game and the three/four lock pack build is designed to dominate it.
The advantages on your own ball – especially with two lineout focused Combo Flankers in O’Donoghue and O’Mahony – are obvious with a five-man unit that can run shortened schemes for action in the midfield or simple, no-action jumping patterns because Ospreys will be incapable of matching each possible target with a counter launch pod. An accurate throw combined with smart calling should see Munster have a dominant lineout platform on our own throw, with only two real counter-jumping threats in the Ospreys pack to worry about.
The real advantage should come on Ospreys throw.
In their last two games against the Sharks and Benetton, the Ospreys ran into two different defensive strategies. Against the Sharks, the Ospreys faced heavy competition all through the line against a three lock pack and, for the first 50 minutes or so against Benetton, they faced a team who didn’t really compete in the air at all.
The Ospreys really struggled to generate any kind of platform against the Sharks at any point, in large part because of the quality of the counter-jumping. Benetton only started to get back into the game against Ospreys once they committed numbers into the air on the Ospreys throw.
Once you get the Ospreys calling those “cut out” schemes, you can get at them in the middle and at the tail if you’ve got the counter-jumpers – and we do.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see us get O’Mahony up early at the front early and often – even risking the odd free-kick – to test out Taione’s high lob to the tail where I can see Beirne and O’Donoghue having a real crack off Davies and Cross. If we see Ospreys going deep into their calling structure to get the likes of Morgan up as a tertiary jumping target, we’ll be most of the way there.
The weather conditions are expected to be pretty good so we should get to see a fair bit of Munster’s work on transition off any scragged or stolen lineout ball. I’d also love to see us have a real crack off our own maul breaks to get Daly/Conway/Gallagher running inside lines to get at Jac Morgan’s inside shoulder as he transitions from maul flank defence to the #10 channel.
I can’t wait to see how this team goes.
