Champagne Moments 18 Oct
18th October 2007 By Munster Rugby Supporters Club
We are delighted that Shaun Payne has taken time out to answer some supporters questions. With the internationally contracted players returning to the squad now, they will be meeting up with some of the new sigings – some possibly for the first time. How difficult will it be to maintain the team bond that has built up while the international players have been away. Not difficult at all really. The squad were together at the start of pre-season and all the guys were there with the exception of Rua (Tipkoi). The thing is every player wants to achieve. To achieve you really have to win in this game and I believe the players know we need our strongest possible squad to win the Magners League or Heineken Cup. If Munster weren’t as successful as they are then maybe we wouldn’t have the amount of players away with the international squad and the question you ask would have the same relevance. Then players would perhaps be looking to leave in order to achieve success. No, no proble mwith team bonding whatsoever. Thats the strength of this squad. No one thinks or assumes they are better than anyone else. With the Heineken Cup less than a months way, how much are you reading into Wasps start to the season with one victory from 5? Nothing whatsoever and if they go without winning a game between now and then I don’t think it will have the slightest bearing on how they perform in the Heineken Cup. They’re the title holders,they have a great record in the competition and I believe that the opportunity for them to win back-to-back titles will prove a huge incentive. With the French league only starting back on 27th October, how difficult will it be to get information on and prepared for the visit of Clermont Auvergne? Well seeing as they won the Challenge Cup last season and were beaten in the Championship final I think we’ll have enough to work on with that. Certainly enough for us to know what an awesome task we’ll face. Then just throw in some of the signings they’ve added and I dont think we’ll be under any illusions. There have been some handling errors in the last two losses. Is there anything special that ye can do in training to help avoid these? Ok, I suppose I deserve that one. I can answer this one on a personal level, seeing as it was my dropped ball handed the Blues a try and maybe the match. So what can I do in practice ? Not a lot really but maybe just up my concentration in whatever games I play in. The likes of Tony Buckley and Niall Ronan have been very prominent in the matches to date. Does that make it more difficult coming to selection when the international players return? Of course it does but that can only be a good thing. We know that when the boys are away they are watching the games when they can or reading the match reports or texting guys about the game. So they know who is going well. And I think the great thing is they are aware that they can never be quite sure that when they come back someone else may just have nailed down their place. How disappointing was the result against the Ospreys? Very. Because we played some very good football but left there with nothing when we felt we deserved something. No blame to anyone but ourselves for that. After 4 games on consecutive weekends, are you personally looking forward to a rest mext weekend. Will Denis Hurley or Mossy Lawler be back to compete with you for that full-back slot for the Glasgow game? I could lie and say I’m really going to miss playing next weekend. But this is already Week 19 of our season and I’m looking forward to a break. I’m not as young as people might imagine. As for Denis and Mossie, yes they are getting close to being back in contention, will know a bit more about that next week. With internationals returning and ramping up to the Heineken, it is possible that some players who have been involved in ML matches to date will not be involved for the next month or so. How difficult is it to keep such players match fit and motivated when playing at a lower level? Of course some players will miss out, me for one example. You mentioned Mossie and Denis and either could slot in, get an injury free run and nail down the jersey. Mossie played the first three games, never put a foot wrong and then got injured, Denis got a knock in the very first minute of his first game. That left me in. Look, from my experience here to date motivation has never been an issue in that situation. Guys pull on the Munster jersey, give it their best shot and if there’s someone else good enough to take it off them, fair enough. Doesn’t mean they’ll be happy about that, but if it happens the challenge is to support that guy and win it back. Very many thanks to Shaun for answering our questions The previous Champagne Momenets can be viewed
We are delighted that Shaun Payne has taken time out to answer some supporters questions. With the internationally contracted players returning to the squad now, they will be meeting up with some of the new sigings – some possibly for the first time. How difficult will it be to maintain the team bond that has built up while the international players have been away. Not difficult at all really. The squad were together at the start of pre-season and all the guys were there with the exception of Rua (Tipkoi). The thing is every player wants to achieve. To achieve you really have to win in this game and I believe the players know we need our strongest possible squad to win the Magners League or Heineken Cup. If Munster weren’t as successful as they are then maybe we wouldn’t have the amount of players away with the international squad and the question you ask would have the same relevance. Then players would perhaps be looking to leave in order to achieve success. No, no proble mwith team bonding whatsoever. Thats the strength of this squad. No one thinks or assumes they are better than anyone else. With the Heineken Cup less than a months way, how much are you reading into Wasps start to the season with one victory from 5? Nothing whatsoever and if they go without winning a game between now and then I don’t think it will have the slightest bearing on how they perform in the Heineken Cup. They’re the title holders,they have a great record in the competition and I believe that the opportunity for them to win back-to-back titles will prove a huge incentive. With the French league only starting back on 27th October, how difficult will it be to get information on and prepared for the visit of Clermont Auvergne? Well seeing as they won the Challenge Cup last season and were beaten in the Championship final I think we’ll have enough to work on with that. Certainly enough for us to know what an awesome task we’ll face. Then just throw in some of the signings they’ve added and I dont think we’ll be under any illusions. There have been some handling errors in the last two losses. Is there anything special that ye can do in training to help avoid these? Ok, I suppose I deserve that one. I can answer this one on a personal level, seeing as it was my dropped ball handed the Blues a try and maybe the match. So what can I do in practice ? Not a lot really but maybe just up my concentration in whatever games I play in. The likes of Tony Buckley and Niall Ronan have been very prominent in the matches to date. Does that make it more difficult coming to selection when the international players return? Of course it does but that can only be a good thing. We know that when the boys are away they are watching the games when they can or reading the match reports or texting guys about the game. So they know who is going well. And I think the great thing is they are aware that they can never be quite sure that when they come back someone else may just have nailed down their place. How disappointing was the result against the Ospreys? Very. Because we played some very good football but left there with nothing when we felt we deserved something. No blame to anyone but ourselves for that. After 4 games on consecutive weekends, are you personally looking forward to a rest mext weekend. Will Denis Hurley or Mossy Lawler be back to compete with you for that full-back slot for the Glasgow game? I could lie and say I’m really going to miss playing next weekend. But this is already Week 19 of our season and I’m looking forward to a break. I’m not as young as people might imagine. As for Denis and Mossie, yes they are getting close to being back in contention, will know a bit more about that next week. With internationals returning and ramping up to the Heineken, it is possible that some players who have been involved in ML matches to date will not be involved for the next month or so. How difficult is it to keep such players match fit and motivated when playing at a lower level? Of course some players will miss out, me for one example. You mentioned Mossie and Denis and either could slot in, get an injury free run and nail down the jersey. Mossie played the first three games, never put a foot wrong and then got injured, Denis got a knock in the very first minute of his first game. That left me in. Look, from my experience here to date motivation has never been an issue in that situation. Guys pull on the Munster jersey, give it their best shot and if there’s someone else good enough to take it off them, fair enough. Doesn’t mean they’ll be happy about that, but if it happens the challenge is to support that guy and win it back. Very many thanks to Shaun for answering our questions The previous Champagne Momenets can be viewed