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JJ Hanrahan when the clock is in the red.
Munstered
Why do they continue to do this to me? Why? There I am happily sitting down to watch the Benetton Munster game on Saturday night and they deliberately try to give me a heart attack. Its starts so well with Benetton deciding not to play for the opening ten minutes and gift Munster a 12-0 lead. Perfect, I can sit back, relax and watch them get the handy bonus point.
Time ticks by and Benetton come back into the game. No need to worry though Benetton have a player in the bin and Munster will take advantage. Then slowly the frustration kicks in. I don't know if the frustration was more apparent in the coaching box or on my couch but my dog felt the change in mood as the clock ticked over the 70 minute mark and she clawed at the door to get out. My wife poked her head around the door to be greeted by a grunt rather than any intelligible response.
Then with time nearly up, my blood pressure through the roof and me using all my self restraint not to swear in front of my daughter they do it again. Billy Holland separates the ball carrier and latcher, Chris Cloete assumes the position and Munster win the jackal penalty deep in their own half. JJ sends a booming kick over the half way line and suddenly there is hope.
Tom Ahern came on and while I've been impressed with his open field player in his outings so far, he was just unreal with his physicality in those last few minutes. I wrote in The Irish Examiner before Christmas about how I believe he has the potential to be an absolute superstar for Munster and Ireland.
In those phases that brought Munster from their own 22 to the Benetton 22 to allow JJ kick the drop goal, Ahern was fantastic. He carried with authority and he cleaned rucks like a man possessed. It was the first time that I thought to myself, he's not about potential anymore, he's ready now.
As they creeped closer and closer to the Benetton 22, I kept saying to myself, nah, they can't keep doing this. They couldn't do it again, could they? Then Nick McCarthy whips a beautiful pass to JJ who strikes it clean and true over the bar.
Benetton had been "Munstered" and all was right in the world again. The dog wagged her tail, the wife breathed a sigh of relief and JJ stood in the middle of the pitch surrounded by his teammates jumping for joy. And not for the first time either.
Munster Contracts
We're still waiting for official news on any contract situation from Munster but if the jungle grapevine is to be believed it seems that the IRFU and Munster are looking to retain their star players at the top of the structure and also the young stars coming through who mainly reside at the bottom of the pay scale. As such its the players in the middle who may well feel the squeeze. Guys who aren't regular internationals, guys who can't nail down a starting spot when the internationals are available or guys who's position in the pecking order are potentially under pressure from young stars coming through.
JJ Hanrahan fits that profile. He doesn't seem to be in Andy Farrell's plans, he has Joey Carbery coming back from fitness and he has the likes of Healy and Crowley looking to take his place in the Munster pecking order. (I also mentioned in last weeks round up that he has been attracting some interest from France).
JJ took a lot of flak in the press and from fans after the Leinster defeat, so not being picked to start and atone for that against Benetton may have stung a bit. Very few players can take credit away from Saturdays game but in those last few minutes JJ was huge for the team. He made the kick to get them into position and he was the one calling for the ball. He wanted the pressure and that is the mark of a quality player. He didn't want to hide, he didn't want to wait until they were underneath the posts. He took responsibility and he nailed it.
His half back partner who supplied the pass for the drop goal is also subject to some transfer rumours this week. According to Murray Kinsella Nick McCarthy is due to return to Leinster at the end of the season.
Although he has had only 6 starts since he moved to Munster it does seem a bit of strange move for all concerned if all personnel stay in situ throughout the provinces. As we've seen with this Six Nations squad the likelihood of Conor Murray and Craig Casey being unavailable for large chunks of the season is a strong possibility. That means Munster need someone experienced as their third choice scrum half to help bring through the young nine's in the squad and guide the young tens during games. McCarthy was in line with Neil Cronin for that battle but he opted to return back to Dublin and battle it out with McGrath and Gibson-Park. Munster will need to review the depth chart at 9 and figure out who fits that now all important 3rd spot.
PROD2
PROD2 is the Curb Your Enthusiasm of world rugby.
First up we have Colomiers against Biarritz, clock is in the red, Colomiers are winning but Biarritz are on the attack. All Colomiers have to do is get the ball off the pitch. Twice they had chances to kick it off the park before Biarritz score the winning try.
PROD2 also gave this beauty from Perpignan.
The Perpignan full back plays the role of Ian Keatley and the Perpignan winger is playing Wayne Barnes. Watch out of the Montauban blindside as he tries to figure out what happened and where the ball has gone.
Six Nations
I'll do a round of the Six Nations news a little later in the week but for now have a look at Paul O'Connell coaching the Ireland maul. I'm guessing it was less than 5 minutes after this that his bib was thrown off and he was in the middle of all the players throwing shapes.
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