ROB PENNEY’S praise of Ian Keatley on Saturday night was absolutely understandable and should be enough to motivate the out-half to finally secure his standing with Munster.
Keatley, signed at the beginning of last season from Connacht, had, to date, been under-whelming in his audition to be Munster’s future out-half.
The job, of course, is filled at the moment but surely even Ronan O’Gara can’t go on forever — such is his enduring excellence that he’ll probably take that as a challenge! — and Munster need Keatley to banish any doubts about his ability to step into those size eight boots.
Keatley was much improved on Saturday night from his pre-season showings, hence Penney’s praise of his 10.
“Ten is such a difficult position to play, you are making 80 or 90 decisions a game at ten so you have got to have time there,” said the coach.
“I thought Ian – without preempting anything – showed a great deal of maturity and that’s what we are looking for from a young ten: that he is able to guide your team around the park and do the basics well.
“A lot of credit to the young man, he has shown a lot of fortitude and his perseverance is starting to pay off.”
The question, though, is whether or not his improvement is enough (or will be if he continues to) to suggest he is finally ready to mount a serious campaign to be Ronan O’Gara’s eventual successor.
Even at 35 years of age O’Gara remains peerless and it is unfortunate that Keatley is ultimately seeking to fill boots that, realistically, can’t be. O’Gara is that once in a lifetime player legends are made of.
Munster will, though, eventually have to replace the irreplaceable. Keatley was signed to do just that and sacrificed first team rugby with Connacht in order to achieve it. Unfortunately he was unconvincing last season and during this past pre-season.
And the suggestion that he suffered from a lack of game-time last season doesn’t stack up.
Last year Keatley started 16 of Munster’s Celtic League games and was actually preferred over O’Gara for the Ospreys semi-final by Tony McGahan, despite O’Gara’s protestations at the time.
He also came on in three other Celtic League games for an overall return of one try, 25 conversions and 44 penalties – hardly the stats or game-time of a player not being afforded opportunities to impress.
O’Gara, in contrast, started just five Celtic League games and came on in two other games for a return of seven conversions and 18 penalties.
Keatley played more games for Munster last season than Ronan O’Gara.
O’Gara, of course, played in all seven of Munster’s Heineken Cup games – return of 12 conversions, two drop-goals and 24 penalties – but even adding those games that brings O’Gara’s total of starts for the season to 12 against Keatley’s 16.
The IRFU’s player-management policy means that Keatley will continue to get chances to impress during Munster’s Celtic League campaign. It is up to him to make the most of those chances or risk being shunted to one side by either Deasy or Hanrahan.
Two of the biggest winners from Saturday night’s victory were undoubtedly Donncha O’Callaghan and James Coughlan.
It was assumed in some quarters that Munster’s new game plan would not be to O’Callaghan’s suiting. Rob Penney has devised this new game plan that hinges on moving the ball quickly and to the wings. This places an emphasis on players’ handling abilities and being able to offload under pressure.
Up until now O’Callaghan’s career has been based on doing the unseen dirty work, hitting the rucks, cleaning them out and leaving the high-profile stuff to the likes of Paul O’Connell. It is only because of O’Callaghan’s selfless work that O’Connell was able to be so effective.
In this new game, however, less emphasis is placed on the type of work O’Callaghan used to thrive on. And it was feared he would find himself obsolete.
His performance on Saturday made a nonsense of those assumptions. His handling abilities, off-loading skills and overall performance were a revelation. He off-loaded with the dexterity of a centre and with the speed of a surgeon racing to stitch up an open wound.
If he continues to show that kind of form then Paul O’Connell and Donnacha Ryan will face a battle for their starting berths.
And Coughlan is another who is clearly suited to this game. The back-row has been Munster’s outstanding forward the last two seasons and picked up at the weekend where he left off before suffering his broken hand at the tail-end to last season.
Such was Coughlan’s excellence on Saturday that he, again, made a mockery of his shameful treatment at national level. That he has been constantly overlooked for national squads over the last two seasons despite being the best number 8 in the country is indefensible.
Perhaps, finally, his enduring excellence will be rewarded come November.