lummix wrote:I don't think it's scapegoating it's pointing out the obvious that he isn't a good enough 10 to play at the business end of competitions.
They are pointing out if Munster aspire to win the champions cup they need a better 10.
For my money they need better depth/quality 3,5,7,10 and 15 btw.
I think they should worry about winning a semi first tbh. Six lost semis in a row now, it is (3 with O'Gara, 3 with Keatley). I think looking at Keatley and talking about aspiring to win the thing is missing the point a bit. They need to take baby steps, win a semi first. People have been talking about the quality of outhalf on winning sides, but guys like Myler, Peyrelongue, Vesty, Brock James, Lopez and a very young Paddy Jackson have played in finals (I forget whether it was Jackson or Ian Humphreys who played in the semi final win over Edinburgh in 2012). But anyway, the point is that you can win semis without a stellar outhalf. Surely that's the crux of the matter when it's a last-four loss we're talking about?
Besides, I think it was Munster's diabolical ruck work in the oppo 22 that really let them down. They were a rabble, and weren't producing
good ball for the attack to work with. Players seemed confused and there was no authority when it came to removing threats from their breakdown. It was a million miles away from the proficiency of Schmidt's Ireland.
I hindsight, the writing was on the wall from the Toulon game. Munster had a similar sort of flat opening 20 minutes in that game. It's just that Toulon weren't as slick as Racing in exploiting it, and maybe the home support gave Munster a bit of an extra boost that allowed them to hang in there. For me, the head coach is the biggest influence on how a team plays, and Munster are showing some of the traits of van Graan's Springboks when they were putting in tragic displays over the last few years