Johann Van Graan builds towards perfection
A dropped pass in the opposition 22, a botched lineout five metres out or a knock-on in the 12th phase of a try-line siege. You can take your pick of any of the aforementioned clangers and it will be enough to give a coach a sleepless night and the perpetrators an uncomfortable seat during the following Monday’s post-match review.
Munster certainly committed their fair share of errors to frustrate their coaches last Sunday at Thomond Park, leaving them with just a 6-0 half-time lead before they kicked on with three second-half tries to score a resounding 30-5 Heineken Champions Cup victory over Castres. The win strengthened their grip on Pool 2 at the halfway stage of the group phase but Munster’s failure to pick up a try bonus point was treated as a moral victory in the visitors’ dressing room.
The French champions will greet Munster back at Stade Pierre Fabre this Saturday for the Round 4 return with forwards coach Joe El Abd happy his side are still in the mix.
Just 11 months ago, Castres were hammered 48-3 in Limerick in the final pool round so last weekend’s three-try to one defeat represented progress of sorts and El Abd was confident his side could improve on the 17-17 tie between the sides on their home soil in last season’s round one clash.
“We know what to expect, we played them last year at home and that game was different to the one away so we hope that we can get a similar result,” El Abd said last Sunday.
“Last year we got a draw, (this time) we need to win 4-0 in points. Today, we lost 4-0 and they didn’t get the bonus point, so we’re still alive in the competition and next week we are going to need to do what they did to us today.
“This competition is all about that; winning your home games and getting bonus points.
“They didn’t manage to do that today, neither did we. So it’s 4-0, we need to do the same next week.”
What is frustrating for Munster head coach Johann van Graan is the fact that those errors crept into a performance that could have been so much closer to the perfection every boss hopes for. This weekend, the objective will be no different.
“From a coach’s point of view, that’s why I say every week ‘we start at zero’,” van Graan said.
Every week you strive for the perfect game. I’ve only been involved in two or three in my whole career where you say ‘that’s close to the perfect game’.
“We want to get there as a squad, it would be great to play the (perfect) game every week, but I think we’re showing improvements in each department. I thought mentally we overcame another battle this week, losing two players (to injury before kick-off) and filling the void and adapting our plan at half-time when anything could happen. Taking the game away from the opposition, it would be great to hit our straps this weekend, you just never know.
“I also know you have to prepare accordingly every week because every rugby game is difficult ... I think it’s consistently doing well, that’s what we’re looking for.”
Over his 12 months in charge since leaving the South Africa coaching staff to succeed Rassie Erasmus as head coach at Munster, Van Graan has seen glimpses of what he is searching for from his players, most recently in the Guinness PRO14 win over Edinburgh 13 days ago. Yet he is realistic enough to acknowledge his quest is far from complete and others including interprovincial rivals and last season’s double winners Leinster, who visit Thomond Park for a sell-out league clash on December 29, are blazing the trail ahead of Munster.
“We’re not there yet,” he said, “our first 30 minutes against Edinburgh from an attacking point of view, the way we moved and the speed we were at I think we were pretty close then. The second half of (Champions Cup) round six last year against Castres last year, I thought we did that really well.
“Some parts of the Toulon (European quarter-final last season) stand out, but a perfect game, no not yet.
“That’s the beauty of it, we have such a long way to go. We as a squad acknowledge that there’s a European champion setting the benchmark at this stage. We’re quite a way off that and we have to fight to get there.”
