Johann van Graan hoping to reverse abysmal away form

Munster Head Coach Johann van Graan believes that his side are more than capable of reversing their poor form away from home when they travel to Exeter in their opening Champions Cup game on Saturday. Van Graan’s men have lost all three games in the Guinness Pro14 this season.

The province put in a much better performance in defeat to arch rivals Leinster last weekend and van Graan is hopeful that Munster can take the positives from that game into Saturday’s contest.

“We are well aware of it (the poor away form) and are working hard on it. These are pretty tough games. They have been brilliant in the Premiership and they were very good over the last few seasons. We are well aware of the task that awaits us at Sandy Park but also very excited. It’s the first time that Munster play Exeter in the Champions Cup and we are looking forward to it very much.

“This week is all about recovering first. It was a pretty tough game on Saturday and we have a few tough weeks ahead. We are pretty happy with our squad at this stage. Most of the guys know where they stand and what the plans are.”

Despite the poor run of form away from Thomond Park, van Graan says that the squad’s mood is upbeat and that they can’t wait to begin their Champions Cup campaign.

“We went there to win and thought that we put ourselves in some very good positions. Unfortunately, our discipline let us down at crucial stages. The mood was excellent when we came back in. It’s Europe and a competition that Munster loves a lot. We can’t wait to get going. We have a pretty tough Pool with six knockout games.”