“It was incredible.”
Nine wins from nine and looking good for top spot in their Champions Cup pool, with home quarter- and semi-finals a possibility, Munster are well set for a 2020/21 to remember.
It is early doors yet in what has already been, and promises yet to be, a disrupted season but the southern province have a bit of something going for them. Their squad players and young guns have been flying a flag in the Guinness PRO14 and many of them have taken that step up to European action – joined now by their Test talents – with no hesitation.
On House of Rugby Ireland, Ulster star Marcell Coetzee spoke with hosts Ian Madigan and Eimear Considine (from 2:30 below) about the latest round of Champions Cup games, starting with Munster’s stunning comeback win over Clermont. Madigan also spoke about the most impressive aspect of that Munster triumph.
LISTEN to the full interview and Munster discussion here:
“Not to take away from the achievement,” said Madigan, “as it has obviously been fantastic, but with supporters not in stadiums, we are seeing more teams winning away from home in the competition than we usually would.”
Munster rallied from 28-9 behind, after only 24 minutes, to win 39-31 and leave the French side with just a solitary point from the encounter. Madigan declared:
“Yeah, it was incredible… When you’re away from home and things aren’t going to plan, to still to be able to stick to your plan, like they did, and be able to slowly get yourself back into the game and build your momentum was vital.
“Quite often in sport, we see that when a team comes back from a big deficit and draws or goes ahead, they almost mentally switch off. What I found really impressive was, when they got back to level, or snuck their heads in front, the mental aptitude to finish it off was really, really impressive – ensuring that Clermont only got one bonus point.”
Also covered on the latest House of Rugby Ireland episode:
- Inspirational advice from Ronan O’Gara and Andrew Trimble
- That dangerous clear-out that Josh van der Flier was lucky to walk away from
- Marcell Coetzee on Rassie Erasmus and his Springbok ambitions in 2021
- South Africa’s doping issues and how best to clamp down
YOU CAN WATCH THAT FULL EPISODE HERE:
SUBSCRIBE TO HOUSE OF RUGBY IRELANDÂ HERE
Season 3 has returned with Ian Madigan & Eimear Considine as hosts, and has already featured interviews with Brian O’Driscoll, Nigel Owens, Sean Cronin, Shane Williams, Mike Brown, CJ Stander, Ugo Monye, Sene Naoupu, Schalk Burger, Dan Leo, James Lowe and Marcell Coetzee.
