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25th November 2019
10:16am GMT
"From a Munster growth point of view – we as coach just spoke inside about it – some of the things you’ve seen tonight you would not have seen Munster do in the previous few years. The one lineout where we went off the top, you would have seen from us before. I said a few weeks ago that you’ve got to give this coaching group some time. We’ve only been together for a few weeks and we’re looking long-term, looking to improve this team and the skills of this team. "Yes, we’re going to throw one or two – like tonight – that are going to lead to turnovers but, from a clinical, rugby point of view, we’ve done some incredible stuff over the past number of weeks. That will take time but we’re encouraging the players to use their skills… One of the things we’ve said is, ‘If you don’t train it, don’t do it’. We’ve trained quite a few things and we did it tonight. I’m looking forward to the nights and weeks when that will click. Hopefully that will be soon."[caption id="attachment_208155" align="aligncenter" width="1886"]
(Photo by Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile)[/caption]
One thing that has not changed, however, is Munster's straining senior squad. Every professional club must cope with at least 20% of their senior squad being injured, but that percentage is well into the 30s for Van Graan & Co.
Van Graan was asked, post-match, about Munster not having the same squad depth as the likes of Leinster, Saracens and Toulouse. "I think you just control the things that you can," he said.
"I’m very proud of the squad that we’ve built up over the last few seasons. What we’re doing is we’re backing the squad. Ourselves and Leinster are the two teams in the PRO14 are the two teams that have played the most guys from our squads. Obviously, with the more injury issues you get, the more difficult it becomes. What I’ve learned since coming to the northern hemisphere is that it’s incredibly difficult to fight on two fronts, but that’s what Munster is about. We’ll always fight on every front that we have to."The South African was asked if there was any way he could call 'an emergency' and get World Cup winners Damian De Allende and RG Snyman in sooner than next summer. Van Graan responded:
"All that I’ll say is that we’ve spoken to two players about starting here possibly in seven months’ time. As soon as we have more information, we’ll give that."Both players are currently playing their club rugby in Japan's 'Top League' but the 2020 season runs from January to May. It is unlikely that Munster would be able to get the Springboks out of their club commitments in Japan, but there may be wiggle room for a Non Irish-Qualified player to come into the ranks, especially that Alby Mathewson is leaving the club.
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