O’connor promises a ‘mental’ revenge match after losing to streetwise Munster
The much anticipated comeback of Manu Tuilagi and Matt Toomua to the Leicester squad for the return of this fixture at Welford Road on Sunday will only serve to add yet another layer of intensity to what has now become a do-or-die encounter for head coach Matt O’connor’s Tigers.
The scent of vengeance was already thick in the freezing air at Thomond Park on Saturday night after Leicester had been forced to endure a humbling defeat against the Irish province, who have taken control of Pool Four with a maximum five-point haul.
As if to set the tone for the return fixture, O’connor described some of Munster’s play at the breakdown as cynical and questioned the “duty of care” that players should be entitled to after a tackle by Munster’s Andrew Conway on Telusa Veainu that left the Leicester full-back with a broken jaw.
“It is going to be mental next week, it is going to be all mental,” said O’connor. “It’s going to be tough. We’ll have to make sure we’re very good, don’t give them anything. It will be a tight group, it always was. There’s four quality sides. There are no free wins, there won’t be a high-scoring winner and no second place.”
Tom Youngs, the Leicester captain, was equally strident, dismissing suggestions his side could draw inspiration from last December when the Tigers overturned a record 38-0 defeat to Munster by winning at Welford Road a week later.
“Last year has gone. It’s just about us looking at what we can do better,” said Youngs. “We were second best in many areas.
“You guys can write about it that it’s set up nicely. We can go back and swear about it, talk about it and get things done next week and be ready for the weekend.”
Having already lost away to Racing 92, O’connor and Youngs know that a third defeat would almost certainly end their European campaign, but the question remains as to whether his side have the time
and wherewithal to address the areas of concern where they were completely outplayed in an outstandingly committed performance by Munster under new head coach Johann van Graan.
Peter O’mahony and Chris Cloete dominated the breakdown and Leicester came off second best time and again in the collisions, losing possession more than 20 times and allowing Munster to establish a match-winning position before the first half was up, thanks to tries by Rhys Marshall and Simon Zebo and three penalties by Ian Keatley.
There were moments in the second half when Leicester established some forward dominance, notably when Harry Thacker scored a try from a driving maul and in the final moments of the match when they laid siege to the Munster line.
But O’mahony and Cloete were also both able to score tries to ensure Munster secured the four-try bonus point.
“We’re going to have to make sure we go there and put out a performance that puts us back on an even keel in this group,” added O’connor. “You lose a game at home, you won’t be in the knockout stages. We’ve made good strides, but we have to make sure we get it right this week.
“I’ve no doubt we’ll be significantly better next week, but whether that will be good enough, I don’t know. We will go next Sunday with a lot of confidence we can be better than that. Manu Tuilagi is training. We just took the view that we couldn’t include him in the 23 this week with the other bumps and bruises in our group.
“He’ll have another week of training, like Matt Toomua. Tatafu Polota-nau arrived on Friday. There are blokes coming in who will give us a lift ahead of the return.”