When you see Graham Rowntree losing the plot at halftime, it’s (a) great to see and (b) a pretty fair reflection of how poor Munster’s breakdown work was. When he was asked about the performance this week, he was keen to point out that the squad went back to basics this week when it came to stuff like the offensive breakdown.
I can see why, to be honest. That first 40 minutes was amongst the poorest I’ve seen from Munster at the offensive breakdown – every bit as bad as last week’s game against Leinster when it comes to raw inefficiency and flat our poor execution. It was so bad that, at halftime, our front row had combined for 14 ineffective entries between them, which would be a lot for an entire team across the full 80 minutes, as opposed to three players for just the first half.
Thankfully, it improved.
Munster’s Offensive Ruck Work Score vs Exeter
- A Dominant Clean is an action that decisively secures possession when the ball carrier takes contact. A Dominant Clean does not have to be the first arrival at the breakdown but it is rewarded in the context of effectiveness. We will assign this action 3 points.
- A Guard Action is where a player plays a role in helping to retain possession after we have “re-won” the ball on the floor. Sometimes this can happen on a carry/ruck point where there is no active contention by the opposition. Let’s assign this action 2 points.
- An Attendance can be anything from standing as a “kick shield” on a ruck to adding a bit of bulk to ward against a counter-ruck. I’m marking this down as being worth 1 point.
- An Ineffective Action is a blown cleanout, a lean, a breakdown penalty or an action that I couldn’t see any direct benefit for. This will be worth -1 points.
| Dominant Clean | Guard Action | Attendance | Ineffective | Ruck Work Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loughman | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 | |
| Scannell | 3 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 47 |
| Archer | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| Kleyn | 2 | 8 | 3 | 25 | |
| Wycherley | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 29 |
| O'Donoghue | 3 | 8 | 3 | 28 | |
| Hodnett | 3 | 11 | 31 | ||
| Kendellen | 1 | 5 | 13 | ||
| Murray | 0 | ||||
| Healy | 5 | 10 | |||
| Daly | 1 | 6 | 15 | ||
| De Allende | 1 | 6 | 15 | ||
| Farrell | 1 | 5 | 1 | 14 | |
| Earls | 4 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Haley | 1 | 10 | 2 | 25 | |
| Buckley | 0 | ||||
| Wycherley | 4 | 5 | 22 | ||
| Ryan | 10 | 1 | 2 | 19 | |
| Jenkins | 0 | ||||
| Ahern | 2 | 4 | 14 | ||
| Casey | 0 | ||||
| Scannell | 0 | ||||
| O'Sullivan | 2 | 8 | 1 | 23 |
Top Five OWR Scores
- Niall Scannell
- John Hodnett
- Fineen Wycherley
- Jack O’Donoghue
- Jean Kleyn/Mike Haley
Niall Scannell’s turnaround was absolutely excellent – and, as a result, he’s jumped up two stars in the Wally Ratings – but it’s telling, for me, that Jeremy Loughman had an incredibly low score for a front five forward. Perhaps he is miscast in the phase role he is currently operating in? Either way, that performance from both Loughman and Archer can’t be repeated this coming weekend.
The rest of the team was balanced out with good, solid breakdown work. Fineen Wycherley was an early leader but dipped out a little as the second half progressed. John Hodnett was his usual busy self in every facet of the game and Mike Haley’s grunt work over the ball was invaluable at times.
