Wycherley says new-look Munster are determined to bounce back
After defeat in Bath last Saturday, Munster have their last chance to iron out the pre-season creases in Cork this evening when they welcome Gloucester to Virgin Media Park.
In 15 days, they’ll open their URC campaign against Connacht at home and there’s an onus on the 2022/23 champions to hit the ground running.
That’s because of the complexities that present themselves at the start of a season that sees a chunk of the squad head off to South Africa on the Emerging Ireland tour, an early trip to the Rainbow Nation before the November internationals and an additional Ireland
Test during that window. Munster are still picking themselves up from the knockout blow delivered by Glasgow at a stunned Thomond Park last May.
But lock Fineen Wycherley (right) believes they are ready to make a strong start on the back of a good training block.
“It’s about going back to what we did well last year and building on that, layering on a few more things,” he said.
“We’re very much day to day, week on week. The coaches and management don’t get too far ahead of themselves. We’re just trying to improve.
“There’s a lot of bodies looking to get used to the system.
“Last season, we had massive potential. to the group, it’s a very exciting year ahead. The quality of training has been way ahead, we’ve come in and hit the ground running – it’s been excellent – and hopefully we can transfer that into the start of the season.”
Under Graham Rowntree, Munster are yet to get past the last 16 of the Champions Cup and Wycherley says they are determined to make a run at the tournament this season.
“Look, Munster is built around European rugby. We know how important it is for our fans, how important it is for ourselves and our families,” he said.
“We want to be doing better than we did last year and the year before, all we can do is build on what we did last season and go from there.”
Rowntree used 30 players in the 2421 defeat against Bath last week and he’s likely to be liberal with the gametime again tonight.
New signing Thaakir Abrahams makes his first appearance, with Shane Daly moved to outside centre, while Keith Wood’s son Gordon is named on the bench for the senior team for the first time. Munster team to face Gloucester (Virgin Media Park, 7.0, Access Munster): M Haley; L Coombes, S Daly, S O’Brien, T Abrahams; B Burns, J Oliver; J Wycherley, N Scannell, S Archer; G Coombes, F Wycherley; N Scannell, S Archer; G Coombes, F Wycherley; R Quinn, A Kendellen, J O’Donoghue (capt). Reps: D Barron, S Buckley, E Clarke, J Loughman, J Ryan, R Foxe, C Ryan, J Daly, S Edogbo, L Cleary, T Butler, T Farrell, B Fitzgerald, G Wood, P Campbell.