Munster have the most offensive rucks of any team in the URC this season so, as we’ve seen, the Offensive Ruck Work score is probably the best metric we have for assessing how Munster played in any given game.
When we’ve played poorly, our ORW numbers are low and we almost always lose or fail our in-game objective – a bonus point. When our ORW numbers are high, we win – nearly every single time without fail. These scores track all the way back to key turning points for this Munster framework at home to the Bulls, South Africa A and our epic end-of-season run-in from Glasgow in Thomond Park to this Grand Final in Cape Town against the Stormers.
The most satisfying thing for this group is that when it came down to it, we produced our most consistent breakdown performance of the season from a Collective Offensive Ruck Work score quarter-to-quarter. This is the best we’ve played all season when it comes to the consistency and quality of our breakdown work with seasonal highs for multiple players.
MUNSTER’S OFFENSIVE RUCK WORK SCORE VS THE STORMERS
- 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 point
Top Five ORW Scorers
- Gavin Coombes – 63 points
- Tadhg Beirne – 62 points
- Jean Kleyn – 57 points
- Stephen Archer – 56 points
- Jeremy Loughman – 50 points
I said last week that any score above 50 is outstanding, and anything above 60 is elite – all of our top five scored 50 or higher with Gavin Coombes and Tadhg Beirne standing out. This is Tadhg Beirne’s second 60+ game in a row, to give you an idea of the level this guy is currently playing at. He’s as good a half-lock as there is anywhere in the world right now and his performance here, especially when he was playing alongside Kleyn and Snyman when O’Mahony went off injured, will surely interest Andy Farrell heading into a World Cup.
Gavin Coombes’ transition into a Half Lock Power Forward as the season has progressed is one of the most impressive play-style evolutions I’ve seen in some time. He’s moved from being a ball-dominant primary carrier into being a ball-dominant primary ball carrier with tight lineout/maul work, huge tackle output and elite-level defensive and offensive breakdown work. Coombes had multiple key involvements in this game and backed up an outstanding performance against Leinster with something even more complete here.
Coombes is playing more like a “lock” than he has since he broke out in 2020/21 and it really suits him, especially when he’s playing behind Kleyn and Snyman.
Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman really racked up great numbers as a duo. Kleyn’s dominant breakdown entries bullied the Stormers repeatedly, while Snyman’s physicality to manipulate and move bodies at speed is frightening. This was as good and as heavy as I’ve seen Jean Kleyn play this season and was the definition of an enforcer for us.
Alex Kendellen deserves a mention here too for the absolute brutality he dispensed in 12 super intense, super effective minutes off the bench. He is playing with a menace that really stands out on closer viewing.
Our Collective Offensive Ruck Work score was the most consistent and effective of the season however, we underscored our possessions again.
When I tell you that we left five tries behind us in this game, you’ll see it reflected in the quality and consistency of our possession quarter-for-quarter.
You’ll have noticed this season that, in almost every game of the run-in, we’ve had a massive dip across a quarter or two that’s cost us points. That dip has often dipped below the 100 points per quarter waterline which coincides with our points concessions. The Stormers’ first try in this game was an outlier that can’t really be accounted for – an intercept – but their second came during our dip in the third quarter, even then, our dip was well above our previous game against the Stormers this season, and our dips in the last couple of games.
Our first half of back-to-back 172-point quarters should have put the game out of sight. Watching the game back in detail, we left another 15 points out there in the first half at least – our breakdown performance deserved more scores.
The second half, the last quarter in particular, should have seen us pull away by another two or three tries. That’s the exciting thing. We’re currently underscoring our ORW on the scoreboard consistently and we still won a trophy.
What should concern the URC and Champions Cup is this thought; what will we look like when the scoreboard catches up to our breakdown?
That’s what Graham Rowntree is talking about when he says that this can only get better. This squad has found the perfect playstyle for their playing profile and they’ve got such a huge ceiling for growth that it’s genuinely exciting to see what next season brings.
