Donal Lenihan: Hodnett, Ahern and Nash offer timely reminder of their form
While far from perfect, there was enough evidence on show in the weekend's penultimate pool round of Champions Cup action to suggest that key Irish players are beginning to find their groove three weeks before the start of the Six Nations.
With Leinster the only Irish province all but guaranteed to see Round of 16 action next April coming into the weekend, Munster, Connacht and Ulster had all reached a critical point in their quest to join them.
Munster’s season has been blighted by injury to key players, especially up front. In the circumstances, heading to France in survival mode without key forwards in Jean Kleyn, RG Snyman, Oli Jager and Jack O'Donoghue was hardly ideal.
However with Peter O'Mahony and Niall Scannell back in harness, there was every chance that Munster’s stuttering line out might finally be in a position to deliver some much needed, quality attacking ball.
In tandem with that, the return of new signing Alex Nankivell to renew his blossoming midfield partnership with Antoine Frisch, there was a glimmer of hope that Munster could finally break a five-match sequence when it came to winning a competitive game on the road this season.
The Stade Felix Mayol seems an unlikely place to address that shortcoming but, with their backs firmly to the wall, Munster did what they’ve been doing for years in Europe, delivering a quality performance when the need was greatest. They even stuck to script by doing it the hard way, falling 10 points in arrears within 25 minutes.
The key to Saturday's crucial win stemmed from the fact that Munster offered Toulon no breathing space when it came to building further on their decent lead. The character of this emerging group of young players was there for all to see when winning the URC against all the odds on the back of an amazing sequence of victories away from home at the tail end of last season.
That willingness to stay in the fight enabled Munster to draw level with Toulon within a productive eight minute spell that yielded a try for the ever-willing Nankivell, coupled with a penalty and conversion from Jack Crowley.
Munster’s encouraging first half resilience reached its zenith when Simon Zebo collected a sublime Crowley chip to score under the posts, claiming the lead three minutes before the break. That coupled with a stubborn defensive shift against a powerful Toulon lineout maul that looked destined to yield a try on the stroke of halftime proved a massive energiser for the visitors at a key time.
Scannell’s return to arms had the desired effect with the accuracy of his lineout deliveries helping to provide quality ball from six of Munster’s seven lineouts. At last Munster’s ever-evolving attack had some decent possession from which to operate.
This enabled the likes of Gavin Coombes and Tadhg Beirne to generate forward momentum from subsequent phase play and force the Toulon defence into making rash decisions on the retreat.
The turning point in the game came courtesy of a sumptuous box kick from the excellent Craig Casey, pilfered from under the nose of French full back Melvin Jaminet by a magnificent piece of aerial dexterity from the hard-working Calvin Nash.
That alone may go a long way towards convincing Andy Farrell that the Limerick man may prove the one to fill Mack Hansen’s vacant Ireland shirt in a few weeks time. As ever statement victories of this nature don’t happen without key players delivering quality performances.
The thing that will please Graham Rowntree most is the contributions from some of the younger brigade with John Hodnett’s work rate, tenacity and chop-tackling of the big Toulon lighthouses up front proving inspirational. He is playing out of his skin at present.
Despite moving closer to the coalface with a return to the second row, Tom Ahern also rowed in with a powerful 80 minutes of sustained action that included a trade mark athletic try from another inch perfect kick from Crowley into Ahern’s domain in the wide five metre channel.
The nature of the pool stage, with just four games, means that collecting five points on the road can prove transformative. All of a sudden, from a position where Munster’s slot in the knockout phase was under severe threat, they’re in a position to grasp a home draw with a win over Northampton in Thomond Park next Saturday.
This win not only provides Munster with fresh impetus for what will prove a titanic battle against the current Gallagher Premiership leaders but should also help rekindle the levels of belief in the way the team want to play that had become diluted on the back of a calamitous run of injuries and a poor run of form leading into this game. Once again, Munster have a cause to chase.
Meanwhile Leinster’s progress to the knockout stage was practically guaranteed before Stade Francais arrived in Dublin. Any chance of the Parisians causing the hosts a bump on the road evaporated from the moment they announced their travelling party on Friday.
With eight of their squad set for a Champions Cup debut, they were never going to offer any meaningful challenge to an all international starting Leinster team boasting 516 caps between them.
By way of contrast, Stade’s two starting internationals, New Zealand scrum half Brad Weber and French second row Pierre-Henri Azagoh shared just 20 international appearances. Even more daunting, Leinster’s bench carried a further 288.
Without ever coming near the peak of their powers, Leinster strolled into the knockouts with a game to spare. With a trip to Leicester Tigers up next, Jacques Nienaber’s men face a more stern examination at Welford Road which, I suspect, the South African World Cup winner will welcome as it will provide more of an insight for him to ponder when the majority of his squad head into Ireland camp over the next seven weeks.
In addition to implementing the well-ventilated changes to the way he wants Leinster to defend, his biggest headache surrounds the No 10 shirt vacated by the retirement of Johnny Sexton. Right now it appears jinxed.
First in line, Ross Byrne has waited patiently for Sexton to depart the scene to grasp his chance but injury has halted his march almost from the outset. Since then, Leo Cullen has chopped and changed between Harry Byrne, Andy Farrell’s preferred choice in Ciaran Frawley and Sam Prendergast.
An ankle injury sustained by Harry Byrne in training during the week appeared to clear the way for Frawley until he became the latest addition to the casualty ward on Saturday at a point when he looked odds-on to back up Crowley off the Irish bench for the Six Nations.
All the chopping and changing at out half hasn’t done Leinster’s attack any favours as they strive to find their true form which, to date, has eluded them. That said, they have sufficient quality all round to win without playing anywhere close to their best.
If Connacht’s defeat away to Lyon was anticipated, the manner in which Toulouse dispatched a decent Ulster side on their home patch on Saturday night served not only a warning to the other major contenders for European honours but sent a clear message to anyone suggesting the French players might still be suffering a hangover from their failure to win the World Cup.
The upcoming Six Nations will clarify that one way or the other but right now Toulouse look in a great place. So, with a final round of Cup action to next weekend, incredibly, despite some poor results, all four Irish provinces have something tangible to play for.
