Sometimes, the hits and the crowd expectation and the gasp-for-breath toughness of European rugby are the easy part of the day. It’s the other stuff that is difficult. When the
Munster
players looked through their season schedule and saw that they were down for three early kick-offs, they knew that that meant: early breakfasts and not in the full Irish sense.
"It's a tougher morning but you just got to prepare well," sighed Munster captain Peter O'Mahony, clearly dreading the prelude to their 12.45 assignment against Edinburgh. O'Mahony makes a regular appearance at the top table during Munster press days and is always measured and composed but he did sound a little daunted by the thought of another lunchtime start.
“Just get out of the scratcher a bit earlier and getting into your day earlier. Some fellas do it differently but it is probably even practicing getting a big meal in early. That is the toughest thing. We would be up half sevenish. Breakfast first. Some fellas would give that a skip and have a bigger lunch. Some fellas would have medium sized both . . . it is a personal thing. Then we’d have a stretch.
“Then the pre-match meal which is full grub at nine or half nine. It is tough going but all pre-match meals feel the same. It is just horrible to be honest.”
By now, those in the room were beginning to wonder about the kind of culinary tortures inflicted on the province’s favourite suns. “What is it?” someone blurted out, sounding aghast.
“”Ah, it is just nerves, it is everything,” O’Mahony explained.
“You are full as it is and you are trying to stuff your face. It’s not pretty.”
No, no, what to ye have to eat? Pasta?
“Pasta.”O’Mahony said grimly. “Potatoes. Chicken. Whatever you can get into you.”
“And no wine?” came another horrified enquiry from the assembled press.
O’Mahony just smiled. The weekly trial of press duties is one of the tougher tasks facing any young captain and like Paul O’Connell before him, O’Mahony seems more comfortable with the role each passing week.
'Simple but tough'
Sunday's game against Edinburgh sees Munster complete their pool games in the Heineken Cup and a win will leave them in contention for a home quarter-final, pending results elsewhere. O'Mahony's summary of the threat they possess was concise: they know the Scots well.
“The game-play they have is not overflashy but they are very comfortable with it and effective at it. That is the direction they are going – playing simple but tough rugby and they are very difficult to defend at times when they get you where they want you.
“There is a huge physicality there – they have a couple of huge ball carriers not only in the pack but in the backs too and we know it is going to be hard to top them at source. They have shown in their form over the past few months that they are a team that is building and are acquiring traits that make them tough to play against. There are huge ramifications for us and them – seeding for the Amlin for them and we have a lot to play for too. So neither side will be holding back.”
As Rob Penney alluded to during the week, the motivations for earning a home quarter-final are many and include the obvious financial benefit of fans going through the gates. The ifs-and-buts and mathematical possibilities are for fans to dwell upon. Second guessing what they have to do can be a distraction in the dressing room.
'Tough at times'
"Thomond is a special place and logically, everyone wants to play at home. We are no different. It does make life somewhat easier so it is hugely important for us. We are a professional rugby team and we have enough guys who have been in this scenario.
“We know we have to do a job. It is irrelevant because we can’t influence anything other than the 80 minutes we have on Sunday so we have to get ourselves right. It is tough at times but you have to put it to bed and worry about our own house.”
Otherwise, Edinburgh could finish the season as they started it, by claiming a famous Irish scalp. Although they play a bread-and-butter game under Alan Solomons, they have a drop of mercury in Greig Laidlaw, a metronomic goal kicker with the facility to play either nine or ten. He is one of the players Munster will pay most attention to.
“I think he is a class footballer.” O’Mahony says. “Obviously he is very important to Edinburgh and is a world class goal kicker. I think if you are going to be ill disciplined like we were [in the away game] in your own half and not exit well, he is going to punish you. He is going to get the headlines.
“He is an extremely good kicker and runs their game plan extremely well. I think they have come a long way since we played them in the first round. They beat us then and I know we didn’t play very well over there but they played quite well and executed their game plan. So they will be difficult to stop but we have plenty to play for as well on Sunday and we are not going to lie down and roll over.”
