Despite maintaining their 100% Pro 12 record against Glasgow Warriors on Friday evening, Munster remain unconvincing.
Anthony Foley’s side now have a two week break to try and rectify a stuttering start to the season. Munster have won all three games in the Pro 12 thus far but their wins have come against teams that are missing a shed load of players due to Rugby World Cup commitments.
For instance, Glasgow Warriors were down to just 21 players from their available squad for Friday’s game and Munster (who have only five players at the World Cup) scraped a victory only thanks to Ian Keatley’s late penalty. It was a similar story in their last game against Ospreys. So what’s going wrong?
That isn’t an easy question to answer. Munster, given the quality on paper of their first three opponents should have been looking for bonus point wins from those first three games but that has not materialised.
One reason for this is the form of Ian Keatley. The outside half is a pivotal position in rugby and Keatley has struggled for Munster since he was given the number ten jersey after Ronan O’Gara retired. It seems at this stage that he is unable to control the game sufficiently and his kicking percentage before the Warriors game was a paltry 67%.
It is not all down to Keatley though. Munster have also kicked away too much possession so far this season and this will be punished by better sides. One of the staples of Munster’s success over the years has been their lineout, but this facet of the game has not been up to scratch so far in the 2015/2016 season. So how do Munster improve?
Well the first thing Anthony Foley has to do is get his best 15 men out onto the pitch. It may sound a simple solution but Foley has been tinkering with the team too much and this has not helped the situation.
Change the outside half: Keatley’s confidence seems to be shot so [possibly] take him out of the firing line. Tyler Bleyendaal was picked at inside centre for the Glasgow game and it plainly did not work. Why not give the former Crusaders player a chance to build on what was a very encouraging debut against the Ospreys?
These are simple suggestions but ones that could make a huge difference for Munster in this season going forward. Their next Pro 12 game is against Cardiff Blues at home in Cork, on October 17.
Hopefully by then Munster will have ironed out the creases in what has been a less than encouraging start to the season, as the struggle continues for Munster despite Glasglow win.
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Image courtesy of Munster Rugby website.
