Van Graan’s complacency warning for Zebre visit
Munster return to Thomond Park tonight in search of the performance that will get them back to winning ways, but with boss Johann van Graan reminding them they cannot afford to assume Zebre will present them with the opportunity to do so. A home game against a side without a victory in the Guinness PRO14 since late October appears to be the perfect scenario for Munster to get back on the horse after being unsaddled by Scarlets three weeks ago in a frustrating 10-6 defeat that was their first in eight games.
The Llanelli loss allowed Conference A rivals Glasgow Warriors to regain top spot with four regular-season games remaining and Munster must claw back three points on the leaders if they are to secure a home semi-final in the post-season play-offs. Though Zebre’s poor form and record this season keeps them rooted to the foot of the conference with the worst points total, 18, of any team in the league, Munster’s head coach sees potential pitfalls for his side if they are in any way complacent in Limerick tonight.
“They’ve been playing some exceptional rugby,” van Graan said of Zebre. “They’re the team with the least amount of kicks in the PRO14, they’ve got incredible linespeed and a guy like (fly-half Carlo) Canna, he doesn’t play for Italy at this stage but he makes magic happen around him. They really pushed Leinster close (in round 15), the score was 28-24 with 10 minutes to go. They’re a hard team to break down and if you’re not clever against them you might chase them and then they become really dangerous.
“So, like every week we respect them. It will be a battle and we’ve got to make sure we focus on ourselves and we’ll play well. We also come from a three-week break so we’ve got to make sure we do the basics right, get our set-piece right, get our kicking game right. Most importantly finish the opportunities that come our way because we’ve let one or two of them slip and looking to the future if we can’t get it right this weekend we’ve got to improve again for next week. So make sure about this weekend first.”
While complacency may well be the enemy, van Graan may be overstating the threat Zebre pose his side. The Leinster game he cited in Parma on February 16 finished with the reigning champions returning to Dublin with a 40-24 victory and Bradley’s side has since seen Ulster, at home, and Glasgow, in Italy, compile bigger totals. Munster will need similar returns and more fluent performance, not only as they build towards next Saturday’s European quarter-final against Edinburgh at Murrayfield but also to set a tone for the PRO14 run-in. Zebre is the first of three home games with Cardiff Blues visiting Cork on April 5 and Connacht travelling to Thomond Park in the final round on April 27 either side of a trip to Treviso to face Benetton on the 12th.
“We as a squad sat down and looked at all the possibilities over the next few weeks but I think the most important thing is to start with today,” van Graan said. “I’ve learned in rugby if you look beyond today then you might get caught with your pants down. It’s all going to come down maybe to the last game. You work so hard to get yourself into these positions and now it’s about execution and enjoying the challenge.”
MUNSTER:
M Haley; D Sweetnam, D Goggin, R Scannell, A Wootton; JJ Hanrahan, A Mathewson; J Loughman, R Marshall, S Archer; F Wycherley, D O’Shea; J O’Donoghue, C Cloete, CJ Stander - captain.
N Scannell, L O’Connor, J Ryan, J Kleyn, A Botha, D Williams, T Bleyendaal, C Farrell.
ZEBRE:
E Padovani; G Di Giulio, G Bisegni, T Boni, J Elliott; C Canna, G Palazzani; A Lovotti, O Fabiani, R Tenga; D Sisi, G Biagi - captain; M Mbanda, J Tuivaiti, R Giammarioli.
L Luus, D Rimpelli, M Ciccioli, L Krumov, A Tauyavuca, M Violi, F Brummer, M Bellini.
Dan Jones (Wales)
