In the Red

IN ALL FAIRNESS

It’s a tough time to be a rugby supporter from around these parts.

From the high of twelve months ago when Nenagh Ormond were winning the Munster Senior Challenge Cup, before earning promotion to the top tier of the All-Ireland League for the first time, that experience didn’t go as they would have hoped.

With relegation confirmed many weeks ago, they were finally put out of their misery last Saturday with the league campaign coming to a merciless end as it began with another defeat at the hands of Old Belvedere.

Eighteen defeats from eighteen is an ignominious way to complete a league season, with just four points earned, all for try-scoring, with Nenagh unable to finish within seven points of their victors in any of their games.

It was a tough experience but one which they can look back on in time and say, we were better off being in there than not as that is what ambition is. They will probably reflect on not being prepared to be more competitive physically and defensively, particularly when they were more than able for the likes of Cork Constitution and Young Munster in Cup competitions in previous years.

They now know the standard, which maybe has risen more this year than they would have been expecting, with director of rugby John Long stating division 1A is as good as professional.

For Nenagh Ormond coaches and players, the post-season debrief will centre on where they go from here, and their ambition for the short to medium term. To their credit, their spirit never waned in any of the games, and that is only to be expected from a club built on a strong culture.

That culture will be important in terms of how Nenagh bounce back next season. Will they take the learnings of what is needed and try and get back into 1A as soon as they can, or will the defeats have sucked too much confidence and possibly lead to another difficult campaign next year. The start to next season will be the key, getting off to a good start with some victories. The squad is still relatively young, dotted with experience that shouldn’t be going anywhere.

Forty players got a tast of what the top level of club rugby in Ireland is like. You can’t buy that experience, and with the clubs under 21’s reaching the Donal Walsh Trophy final, the talent production line locally isn’t slowing down.

One area might aim to improve in is attracting select players in key positions such as the impact made by both Ben Pope and Josh Rowland in recent years, both of whom were big losses this year, as well as Colm Skehan in the front row.

If Nenagh Ormond are in need of refreshing, Munster Rugby are certainly in the same boat. Quarter finals weekend is upcoming in both European competitions and Munster are the only Irish province not involved, despite falling into the secondary Challenge Cup.

There was a stark headline in Monday’s Irish Independent that not only are Munster not competitive enough for the elite Champions Cup, they aren’t even competitive for the Challenge Cup, as they fell 31-0 behind to Exeter in their last sixteen tie on Saturday, before saving some face with a 21 point recovery in the second half.

The appointment of Clayton McMillon as head coach at the start of the season was never going to lead to a quick fix. He took on the job with much of the previous coaching staff still intacr, including attack coach Mike Prendergast, who is moving on to Bath at the end of the season, and Tipperary’s own Denis Leamy in charge of the forwards.

The early weeks of the season suggested otherwise as Munster won their first five league games, including beating Leinster impressively at Croke Park. But since then, it has been very much downhill, even the victories over the likes of Gloucester in Europe, plus Zebre and the Dragons in the league far from convincing.

They have the feel of a team, and indeed an organisation, low on morale, not helped by the voluntary redundancies being sought as the financial impact of the struggles in recent years is impacting attendances not only in the regular season, but also missing out on the bonuses by hosting knockout games in the URC and in Europe. The Pairc Ui Chaoimh games aren’t even a lure going forward as when you see Gloucester sending over a second string selection for a Champions Cup game in front of 40,000 people, fans won’t be quick to part with their money just to be part of an occasion on Leeside.

There is no doubt they are badly in need of re-invigoration, both on and off the field. When you hear the Cork v Limerick argument in terms of Munster’s base, you know things aren’t in a good place.

Looking for some optimism, Ulster were in the same place last season until Richie Murphy’s methods were finally understood, similarly Stuart Lancaster in Connacht. Munster still have a lot of play off in the remainder of the season in the URC, particularly qualifying for next seasons Champions Cup were livelihoods are potentially at stake.