THE OPENING SIX weeks of the Premiership season have already revealed a meaner, hungrier animal of an Exeter Chiefs side.
Henry Slade skips away from Chris Cook during Exeter’s Friday night win over Bath. Source: PA Wire/PA Images
Munster head coach Johann van Graan is well aware of the threats, and the variety of them, that the Chiefs can pose in Sandy Park in Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup opener. Exeter back their maul to the hilt, with good reason, their defence can be suffocating and Rob Baxter’s long-term stewardship combined with the talents of Henry Slade and Jack Nowell ensures England’s table-toppers have massive confidence in their attacking shape and structures.
Click Here: Mexico football tracksuit
Van Graan repeatedly noted that he was ‘excited’ by the challenge of facing one of the best teams in Europe – a moniker certainly not diminished by evidence of the Chiefs’ battles with Leinster last season and Saracens through the years. However, the head coach knows that discipline must be among Munster’s virtues if they are to bring four points back from the tough trip to south-west England.
Munster have worthwhile grounds for complaint around some of the decisions-making of Ben Whitehouse and his assistants in the defeat to Leinster. But the Welsh official could not miss the offence which nudged Leinster back out of reach after the red pack had heaved and heaved for the overdue award of a try that made the contest a five-point game with 12 minutes to play.
From the restart, the otherwise excellent Stephen Archer took a good long look at the chasing Fergus McFadden and altered his running line to check and block the wing. A sickening penalty for a coach to see unfold.
“If you want to win away, you can’t concede any, let’s call them unnecessary penalties,” Van Graan said at the province’s UL training base yesterday.
Archer, it’s worth reiterating, doesn’t have much to improve on after his showing on Lansdowne Road. Restarts aside, the Corkman was a powerhouse in the Munster pack. So when John Ryan’s return to full training was brought up, Van Graan returned to the Archer issue, backing the incumbent tighthead.
“I think Archie is one of the unsung heroes of the squad. He is a guy who doesn’t say a lot but if you look at the improvements in his game: he is very good at scrum time, he is one of the best maul setters and maul stoppers, his work-rate (around) the field for a prop is exceptional. He is carrying so well, he cleans well, he is a very good defender and he is one of those glue men in a team.
Archer, Ronan O’Mahony, Peter O’Mahony and Billy Holland arrive at training yesterday. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO
“He is one of those guys who never really says anything, but once he is not there, there is a big void. That showed last year against Edinburgh when he came off with an injury and we didn’t have it for the semi and we didn’t have him for the start of the season.
“It is brilliant to have Ryano back as well. He has got to come through training this week, but it will be great if we can play tightheads 50 minutes and 30 minutes (or) 45 minutes and 35 minutes. I think that’s what the modern game is about.”