Denis Leamy: ‘It’s not all on the three boys either returning, everyone has to come to the party’

Denis Leamy: ‘It’s not all on the three boys either returning, everyone has to come to the party’.

This weekend, Munster will benefit from the return of Irish internationals Jack Crowley, Peter O’Mahony, and Tadhg Beirne.

Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony, and Jack Crowley’s appearances on the squad sheet for this Saturday’s match against the Ospreys may

provide some respite after Munster has been the target of harsh criticism for the past week due to their poor performance and loss

Zebre Parma.

Their seasonal debuts couldn’t come at a better time, especially for defence coach Denis Leamy. All three of Ireland’s top players,

including former captain O’Mahony and his recently appointed successor Beirne, are anticipated to be included in the matchday

squad, which will be announced at noon on Friday in advance of the URC round three matchup at Cork’s Virgin Media Park the

following evening.

For Munster players, management, and supporters alike, last Saturday’s 42-33 setback in Italy was agonizing. A long list of errors and

a dramatic drop from the defense performances of the previous two seasons under Leamy’s direction marked the team’s first loss to

Zebre in 20 meetings.

Munster conceded five tries to the westerners at Thomond Park in their opening-round derby victory over Connacht seven days prior,

but they still prevailed 35–33. However, the defensive errors that were noticeable in Limerick were exacerbated at Stadio Sergio

Lanfranchi, and the Irish tourists’ IRFU-mandated post-season break could not come soon enough.

“Yeah, it’s brilliant, isn’t it,” Leamy said on Tuesday, “to have the internationals returning and obviously people like Peter O’Mahony,

Tadhg, someone like Peter has seen it all, he’s had such a long career and there’s no emotion in this game or scenario that he hasn’t

seen and Tadhg likewise.

“Jack Crowley adding his enthusiasm and his considerable knowledge, so we’re very lucky to have them coming back and we welcome

them back.

“Hopefully they’ll give us a little bit more and the players of course will respond to them as well, the guys who have been there for the

last few weeks.

“But it’s not all on the three boys either returning, everyone has to come to the party. It’s about everyone’s performance. We’ve got to

make each other look good.”

That said, the experience of Beirne and O’Mahony in particular will be invaluable as Munster attempts to turn a corner against their

play-off quarter-final opponents of last June.

“The white heat of battle is very interesting, that’s why they’re the best players – they’re good in that battle sense.

“In some ways, whatever happens during the week and in the build-up to a game… in some ways, a player can be relaxed and not

brilliant trainers, but what happens in that 80 minutes decides whether you’re a great player or not.

“And those two and Jack hopefully is on his way, they’re great players; they’ve been great players for Munster and for Ireland and in

the heat of battle they’ve got a calmness, a violence, a skillset and an athleticism.

“They’ve got an ability to call on whatever weapon they need in any given moment and that’s the beauty in having players like that,

their experience is great for us at the weekend. A big bonus.”

Leamy also stated that everyone was being held accountable for the poor defensive performances in the previous two rounds. He

maintained that the defensive errors that resulted in 11 tries being given up and more than 20 missed tackles in those two games did

not represent the team’s ability to play without the ball.

“The League has a wide variety of defenses, but we have led it in terms of the fewest points given up for the past two years.

We need to believe in our own ability in numerous ways. We don’t suddenly turn into a terrible defensive team, even if you’re only as

good as your last game..