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Monday, October 26, 2009
FRANKIE SHEAHAN yesterday sprang to the defence of his under-fire Munster colleagues by drawing comparisons with Kerry’s route to All-Ireland SFC success.
Magners League defeats to Warriors, Leinster and Edinburgh have left Tony McGahan’s side already playing catch up in their title defence after just six games.
However the recently retired international hooker is adamant that Munster can take a leaf out of the Kingdom’s book about dealing with adversity after a slump in form.
Sheahan said: "You could look at the way Kerry did it (winning the All-Ireland). Everyone was giving out about them saying they weren’t playing well but they kept a low profile; they allowed everyone to talk about everyone else and then came good when it was needed.
"Munster are still firmly in the Heineken Cup and within easy range of getting through to the knock out stages of the Magners League as well. It’s a good plus to have a top four situation so that teams like Munster, and others supplying guys to different national teams, can afford to slip up here and there and still qualify. You could be struggling away and maybe even finish just fourth in the Magners League and yet be there at the end of the season, without necessarily having to play well every game."
He understands the annoyance of some supporters after the mixed run of results.
He said: "Don’t get me wrong, we would all like to see Munster playing well every time they take the field but it’s not always possible; I have been around at times when we didn’t exactly set the world alight but the team survived and eventually progressed.
"The results don’t look good at the minute; the form is a bit worrying but when you have the type and amount of quality players in this Munster team then I don’t think now is the time to panic. It’s also important to note that there are good young guys coming through.
"Darragh Hurley had a terrible year with injury last season but it looks as if he is back on the road, and it was nice to see young Stephen Archer getting an opportunity, and doing well, against Edinburgh at the weekend.
"I’m out of the frame now but I do know that the lads will be very disappointed with the recent form and a couple of the defeats in particular."
However he has another theory about Munster’s run of results. He explained: "I suppose a problem is that Munster would be seen as one of the main target teams to be beaten; a good few clubs have come out and improved significantly over the last couple of seasons and it makes it more difficult for the likes of Munster because everyone wants to beat them."
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