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Munster
This years Champions Cup is showing that there are clear signs that Munster are improving as a team but that they need time for the new coaches to implement their philosophies, players to adapt to the new requirements of the Larkham attacking plan and players to stay fit. Munster are making great strides this season but its going to take time and the strange thing may be that even with these improvements they may go from making semi finals to not even getting out of their group. Johann van Graan and his new coaching team need time to settle and the time to judge them fully is the end of next season.
Saracens v Munster
I can only imagine how tough a defeat that would have been for the team to take. I couldn't take a second watch of it so will leave that to the likes of @threeredkings to do his excellent in depth analysis. As a fan it was gut wrenching mainly due to the fact that on the big days over the last few years we have been beaten out the gate by them. This time we stood toe to toe with them but just couldn't get over the line. The impact of them losing so many important players in the first 20 minutes or so really hurt the team in the last 20 minutes when Saracens stepped up a gear and emptied their bench. Munster's defense handled the Saracens rotation of heavy carriers extremely well for the first hour, putting in some huge hits and turnovers.
The lineout functioned well despite losing O'Mahony and Beirne so early and in attack its yet again consistency thats missing. When they moved the ball into the wider channels and challenged the Saracens defenders into having to make decisions they looked their most dangerous. Saracens used big carriers in midfield to fake the hit up before pulling the ball back and using the carrier (and sometimes pod) to block the defenders and create a lane for the attacker to fold around the corner. Please go look at Geraint Davies (@daviesGDD on twitter) to see brilliant video analysis of how they did this. Munster tried to go wide and when they did fold around the corner in the wider channels Saracens were in trouble. The issue was Munster didn't do it enough or well enough when they did go wide. Joey Carbery should be back on a rugby pitch fairly soon and potentially using JJ and Joey as the double pivots in Larkhams attack could be the key to unlocking defences for Munster.
The war on obesity
What the Munster medic did was wrong. He shouldn't be getting involved with opposition players and there is likely to be some action from European rugby. Seeing Saracens trying to take the moral high ground on anything is funny as fuck though. The fact that Saracens or their fan club on BT Sports refuse to discuss the potential implications had players not held George back from assaulting a non player tells its own story. If you use Nigel Wrays own play book, the doctor was wrong to call Jamie George a fat prick but only because he had Jamie's own best interests at heart and isn't that what rugbys core values are about anyway?
Christmas Rugby
Munster face Connacht away, Leinster home and Ulster away over the Christmas and New Year period. The IRFU player management program kicks in and the international players must have a two week rest period. That effectively means that Munster and Leinster won't be able to play their first choice teams on Saturday 28th December.
Having limited resources at this time of the year is nothing new and while the media spin will be all about weakened teams a lot of feedback from fans is that they are glad to see opportunity for up and coming players.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the likes of Keynan Knox, Craig Casey, Shane Daly etc can do in front of a sold out Thomond Park against Leinster. The impact Fineen Wycherley had 12 months ago isnt forgotten and Munster will look for guys to stand up and be counted ahead of a huge visit to Paris in the new year. I think Munster may well look to bring the internationals back for the Ulster game to prep for that huge clash against Racing.