Rassie Erasmus expecting tough Connacht challenge at the Sportsground

Following on from a busy few weeks of European action, Munster face into two Pro 14 encounters before the three-week break, Erasmus will have the chance to further experiment with his squad against provincial rivals Connacht but that doesn’t mean that the domestic campaign will be overlooked in terms of importance.

“Last year we were so lucky there when we played the same fixture on a Friday in the wind and the rain. Looks like a dry game this weekend but it’s going to be a tough one. The Pro 14 table is open, we’re lying second at the moment but they’re in our group, Cheetahs are doing well and biting at our arses so the next two games will be a tough ask, although we do want to try a few things and not always just pick our best possible side, we want to make sure when we hit Europe everyone is fit.”

With doubts over the fitness of Tyler Bleyendaal, there may be more importance placed on keeping Ian Keatley healthy for the Champions Cup. Erasmus has praised Keatley’s performance against Racing but will most likely look to JJ Hanrahan for this weekend’s encounter with Connacht.

“He did play well, I thought the pack of forwards did well to give him a nice foundation against a big pack of Racing forwards and Murr (Conor Murray) was excellent in helping him in relieving the pressure but Ian must get a lot of credit. The other things he did well apart from kicking well and dictating the game was tackling well.

“He made a lot of tackles which sometimes fly-halves don’t enjoy doing but he really manned up there. I’m glad for him but JJ must still get an opportunity, Tyler had a good run and we’re going to need all three of them during the season. I know he’s been through a tough time in the recent past when I wasn’t here, that shows the man’s character, now he must just keep on doing it.”

Keith Earls scoring for Munster against Connacht last season.

Simon Zebo will likely be rested this Friday, it was confirmed this week that the 27-year-old utility back will be leaving the province at the end of the season. The Thomond Park crowd were on their feet last Saturday as the dynamic back pulled off a beautiful pass to Keith Earl’s, which was subsequently knocked on. “He’s that kind of player he does some unbelievable magical stuff. It’s nice to have him in your team he’s a good character.” said Erasmus.

Discipline had been an issue for Munster as of late, this seemed to have been rectified last weekend at Thomond Park. “We did have a high turnover rate in recent games. Especially the Leinster and Glasgow games. The guys really took it to heart and cut down on the silly errors.”

Last week it was the lineout that suffered most as Munster battled the weather and a taller side, Erasmus knows that this will need to be worked on ahead of this Friday’s game.

“I think it’s a combination of weather, our height in the lineout compared to theirs, Jean Kleyn hadn’t played in three weeks so to come in in that wet weather, Rhys (Marshall) also, (Niall) Scannell started the previous three games at first choice hooker. New hooker, new front lock, wet weather, competition has got the best lineout in the Top 14, so it was a combination of stuff.

“They also struggled a bit in the wind but our timing was out, sometimes it was the throw, sometimes it was just new guys jumping, we thought we’d lose three or four but we lost five or six so it’s something we’ll need to work on because we’ll get wind like that in Connacht.”