Graham Rowntree has targeted the Munster lineout as one of the primary parts of their game that they need to fix as they prepare to take on a Sharks side in Durban on Saturday who are poised to field a near Springbok pack.
Munster coughed up half a dozen lineouts in their loss to the Stormers last weekend, having lost five of their own throws the previous week in the defeat to Leinster at Croke Park.
Rowntree, whose squad has remained in Cape Town all week and will travel up to Durban on Friday, said he wasn’t going ‘to throw anyone under the bus’ and that their lineout malfunction was due to several factors.
And the Munster head coach said he takes comfort and encouragement from the fact that they have responded to crisis well in the past.
“It’s been not enough,” said Rowntree about their lineout woes. “We know that and everyone and anyone within this group who’s involved with the lineout would say that.
“The lineout, there are a lot of moving parts. It’s not just one thing or one person. There’s a lot going on. I’m not gonna throw anyone under the bus here. There’s a lot of little things that we’ve got to do better.
“And you know what? When you’re in against teams, particularly the last two games, with good lineout defences, a couple of things don’t go your way, you get a bit panicky. And that’s the the guy calling the lineout, and that’s the guy throwing the ball in. It all becomes quite tense, and that can affect the flow of things.
“But there’s lots of things that we’ve been working on. But we know we have to be better in that area. There’s no one shying away from that.”
Rowntree said he has always found it encouraging the way Munster respond when things go askew and he’s confident they will tap into that again this time as they bid to go into the November break with four wins from six rather than three losses and three wins from the opening block of URC games.
“It’s a huge game for us now considering what’s happened in the last couple of weeks in particular. It’s a big game. It’s pretty much a Springbok pack waiting for us on Saturday in the heat in Durban.
“But what gives me comfort is we’ve done it before. I’ve seen this group come through moments like this. And because you’ve seen that in the last two seasons and the bits and pieces that have been there in the last two games have been, like, that close at times, there is still that inherent confidence in the group that they can go to Durban on Saturday and pull this one out.
“What gives me comfort in all of this is we’re playing. We’re playing. We’re missing opportunities. We were missing two-on-ones against Leinster. Our accuracy around lineout was poor against the Stormers. I thought we deserved a four-try bonus point at the weekend. We’re an inch away from taking another lineout, potentially then [going] over. And let’s agree, we gave them two tries as well,” he added.
Munster have had little fortune on the injury front this season and the knock picked up by Jeremy Loughman adds to the three looseheads – Dave Kilcoyne, Josh Wycherley and Mark Donnelly – already on the injury list.
Rowntree revealed he was looking at bringing in temporary cover.
“Of course, I have,” he added. “Yeah, that’s an urgent thing to be getting on with. We’ll see how that unfolds.”
Rowntree has boosted his backline resources with confirmation that 25-year-old Garryowen centre Bryan Fitzgerald has signed a three-month contract extension with the province.
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