Graham Rowntree: ‘We go down to Cape Town with belief, we will be gunning for it’
A proud Graham Rowntree issued a rallying call to his Munster side, insisting that they will travel to Cape Town for the URC final on May 27, confident that they can dethrone the defending champions Stormers in their own back-yard.
Munster edged a pulsating inter-pro derby with Leinster to snatch a famous victory thanks to a dogged and determined display that culminated in Jack Crowley’s stunning 78th minute drop goal to win 16-15 at the Aviva Stadium.
Buoyed by the fact that Munster beat the Stormers in South Africa only four weeks ago, Rowntree’s men will fancy their chances of upsetting the odds again.
Remarkably, it will be the province’s sixth consecutive game away from home, which Rowntree believes has instilled a real belief within his squad.
“We tend to stick in the game,” a delighted Rowntree said.
“Our fitness is good. Just before the end of the third quarter, I thought we had missed a golden opportunity on the try-line.
“We’ve got to be better near the opposition try-line than we were tonight, but no, (I was) never hopeless.
“This group don’t give in and we have come through some fires in the last few weeks. We go to Cape Town and it will be our sixth away game on the bounce, and that’s when we are finding out about people. We are tough, battle-hardened, so I was never hopeless. This team don’t go away.”
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Despite the impressive win, Munster left plenty of try-scoring opportunities behind them, but they will look at that as a positive because if they are more clinical against the Stormers, they will give themselves an even greater chance of securing their first trophy since 2011.
“Not perfect, not perfect,” was Rowntree’s assessment.
“As I say, we’ve got to be more clinical. We spoke about it at half-time, we needed to be more clinical near the opposition try-line.
“This is a very good team, regardless of whoever they have out on the field. A very good team. So, we weren’t perfect, but I’m delighted with the fight and the spirit.
“We’re in a final, lads. I said to the group in the week, 25 days ago, we were paranoid about European qualification. Now we are in a semi, now we are in a final.
“Our game is still growing. We are finding out about people. Pete (O’Mahony) spoke really well in the dressing room about this not being our final tonight. We go down to Cape Town with belief.
“I have seen tangible improvements in our game. I saw that when results weren’t going our way back in the autumn. I had full belief in what I had seen being done in training and the connection the lads had with the coaches.
“We are here to win, aren’t we, in this sport. And to get to this far, and to get to a final, we will be gunning for it.”
As for the man of the moment Crowley, Rowntree held the nerves of steel that the 23-year-old out-half showed to land the match-winning drop goal.
“That's an unbelievable skill, what's just done under pressure,” the Munster head coach enthused.
“He practices that most days. The diligence of the kick, he's practiced that every day after training.”
Munster will rest up over the coming days before turning the page and going again for one more big collective effort to end the long wait for a trophy.
“It was about winning the next game,” Rowntree added.
“It's a boring headline, isn't it, from a pragmatic, old, former Leicester Tiger and England forward. Pragmatic about winning the next game, seeing the improvement, winning the next game.
“We select game-by-game. I could see what we were doing in training, I could see it coming through, but it was about winning the next game.
“Leinster are exceptional defensively at the breakdown, we spoke about it in the week. They'll chance their arm, particularly near the goal line. We knew it was coming.
“Stormers have a huge pack, not the best of surfaces in world rugby. We had a challenge with their scrum and maul, and also the pace they can play the game. I'm a big fan of how he (John Dobson) coaches, but we'll deal with that next week."
