If Munster’s win in Belfast last week was a game won by their attacking completely outpacing Ulster, this week’s win was founded on a dominant display of lineout work, offensively and defensively.
The conditions as they were almost ensured that. It was a squally, rainy, windy evening in Musgrave Park and it was something of an inevitability that the weather would play a part in proceedings. When I saw the pre-game weather, I thought it might affect Munster more than Connacht. From what I’d seen of Munster the week prior, we were pretty ball-dominant and squally weather can limit your ability to build the kind of phase pressure that Munster used so successfully against Ulster.
For me, Munster’s success against Ulster was based on the number of phases they were able to run through effectively. With Nicole Cronin playing almost like a second scrumhalf at #10, Munster’s attacking flow seemed to come the width that Cronin consistently found with her excellent passing range, Ulster found they were chasing shadows. Would that hold up on a day where conditions would be poor enough to at least alter the quality of catch/pass throughout?
It seemed that way, initially, despite Munster scoring an early try. You could see a few passes getting “slipped” out of the hand and dropping dead or flying off target.
Munster’s attacking structure ran on a tight three pod hit up followed by a strike shape that looked pretty close to this on a lot of their phases.
This seems to be built on the concept that Munster want the ball in Nicole Cronin’s hands with three primary options in this position. Cronin is a good darting player but her on-ball threat at the first receiver position is reduced somewhat because of her smaller stature relative to the defenders she’s facing so you’ll often see Sarah Quinn or another forward looping in as an inside ball option to hold the progression of the defence.
That doesn’t mean that she can’t attack the line from that spot – she can and does – but I think Cronin is deployed at #10 here because of her passing range, not her breaking ability. The defence, after a while, will pattern this and begin to cut off space outside, where we want Cronin passing to. Sure, she could break in that spot but how many phases do you spend on that pattern? Why not include a heavy inside ball option to ensure the first three defenders respect the progression of the ball?
The shape outside Cronin is often a two or three pod of forwards with Allen or another back as a screened, secondary playmaker. The key to the shape is this width, which allows Cronin to use her outstanding passing range to find targets based on what the defence shows her.
The way Munster have been playing demands a fairly high level of accuracy to find those targets across the field. In the above montage, you can see the damage that passing outside the peak of the blitz does to a defence and a player like Chloe Pearse will make you pay over and over again if you give her that kind of pocket to run into.
But Munster’s accuracy with the ball in hand was a little off for much of the game. Not enough to cost Munster, obviously, but a dip on last week’s performance.
The conditions will play a part in that. Connacht’s defence in the context of those conditions and Munster’s general dominance of possession was really good. They snagged Munster up at the breakdown throughout the game and managed to choke us up a few times late in the first half.
If it felt like Munster were, all at once, unfortunate to be tied at halftime while simultaneously living on the edge a little it was mostly down to the handling errors and Connacht being really scrappy and tough to grind through in defence.
The game was level well into the second half and it only broke properly in Munster’s favour either side of the water break when we managed to hurt Connacht repeatedly on the counter-attack.
Connacht’s bench transition seemed to disrupt their flow and they went from being right in this game after converting one of their two big chances to being three scores down in the space of 10 minutes. Did they tire? Perhaps, but whatever happened Munster were out of sight after that flurry of scoring.
Even the exclamation point try featured the principles that Munster have tried to play to – that inside ball option with the 2+1 outside, Cronin as a primary playmaker and really strong ball carrying.
That adjustment (at the start and the end of the sequence) from Cronin and her off-balance grubber kick turned two potential turnover moments into one of the best tries scored all weekend in this tournament. What had looked like a choppy second 40 minutes turned into a smooth sailing after the water break and Munster coasted to a bonus-point win that would send them top of the Interpro table with a game away to Leinster lined up this weekend for the finish.
Winning in Energia Park will be a step up on the challenges faced in the first two games but I think this Munster side have the quality and the style to do the business on Saturday.
Notable Players
I thought the Munster front five did really well in challenging conditions. They scrummaged well as a unit, mauled strongly and were a really solid lineout unit on both sides of the ball. Siobhán McCarthy really stood out to me as the game went on with some strong, dominant ball carrying but this was a good performance by all of them.
Maeve Óg O’Leary had another really solid game highlighted by some spiky carrying and really solid defensive work. I thought this poach in the second half was particularly good.
She’s a very tidy player that’s got test potential in her sooner rather than later.
I thought Nicole Cronin had another standout game at #10, where she showed off more of the kind of pass dominant game that makes this Munster side tick. She’s really unlucky not to be considered for Ireland, at least on the strength of her previous two outings for Munster. This game was a fine example of her skillset and the real danger her passing ability off both sides can bring to a team who are set up to take advantage.
Does she have a true breaking game from #10? Does she have the tactical variety to scale up to test level in the position? I think I need to see more of her at #10 to make a clear judgement on that but I think those two question marks pale in comparison to her ability to be an elite passing platform. With the right 2 or 3+1 shape outside her in that middle space, Cronin can take apart teams with her passing and she’s got the agility and skillset to bring variety to her possessions when the play progresses to the wings.
Another very encouraging display from an absolute baller.
I thought Stephanie Nunan and Aoife Doyle were absolutely lethal off the bench and really showed off their pace and hustle during the second half.
That is just flat out wheels.
I thought Clodagh O’Halloran was the standout performer on the field. Yes, she scored a try, but her counter-jumping in the lineout was absolutely devastating and was a genuine turning point in the game from a Munster perspective.
O’Halloran turned multiple Connacht launching points into scrappy, disorganised possession all over the field – their 22, between the 10m lines, deep in the Munster 22. She scored a nice try too but her athletic lineout work on both sides of the ball was a key point of difference for Munster, especially in the conditions. Outstanding. ★★★★★
The Wally Ratings: Connacht (H)
The Wally Ratings explainer page is here.
Players are rated based on their time on the pitch, if they were playing notably out of position, and on the overall curve of the team performance. DNP means the player did not feature and N/A means they weren’t on the pitch long enough to warrant a fair rating.
| Names | Rating |
|---|---|
| Chloe Pearse | ★★★ |
| Kate Sheehan | ★★★ |
| Fiona Reidy | ★★★ |
| Aaliyah Te Pou | ★★★ |
| Siobhán McCarthy | ★★★★ |
| Clodagh O’Halloran | ★★★★★ |
| Maeve Óg O’Leary | ★★★★ |
| Sarah Quin | ★★★ |
| Muirne Wall | ★★★★ |
| Nicole Cronin | ★★★★ |
| Laura O’Mahony | ★★★ |
| Rachel Allen | ★★★ |
| Alana McInerney | ★★★ |
| Chisom Ugwueru | ★★ |
| Maggie Boylan | ★★★ |
| Deirbhile Nic A Bhaird | ★★★★ |
| Aoife Moore | ★★★ |
| Laura Delaney | ★★★ |
| Edel Murphy | ★★★ |
| Anna Caplice | ★★★★ |
| Gemma Lane | ★★★ |
| Stephanie Nunan | ★★★★ |
| Aoife Doyle | ★★★★ |
