“If I’m playing, I’m going for him” – Quinlan considers highly-disciplined flavour to Munster performance
Reflecting on a disappointing weekend for Munster, Alan Quinlan doesn’t think he’d have shown such restraint to Castres’ relentless ‘goading.’
During a difficult Champions Cup trip to the south of France, one particular moment during Munster’s defeat to Castres got Alan Quinlan thinking of days gone by.
After a late Thomas Combezou collision with Joey Carbery, Quinlan, speaking to OTB AM this morning, reflected on where his mind wandered to as he saw the Munster man hit in such circumstances.
“I watched it, and I swear if I’m playing, I’m going for [Combezou] after that,” Quinlan admitted.
On an evening where wet and windy conditions further complicated what was a curiously antagonistic approach from the French club, Quinlan was left wondering how great the extent was of rugby’s changing face.
Although the former Munster man suggested that Carbery’s teammates may not have seen the incident, in the more likely case that they did, Quinlan was left wondering why no Munster man had fronted-up to Carbery’s aggressor.
“Times are different,” Quinlan offered.
“We’ve seen from Ireland in the last couple of years how good their discipline has been.
“Sometimes you’ll get guys who maybe give away silly penalties, [but] with regard to the argy-bargy stuff and the stupidity of throwing a punch, or stamp, or late tackle, you see very little of that from Irish players.”
Criticising the performance of match referee Wayne Barnes, Quinlan was nevertheless left wondering why no Munster reaction materialised when it became clear that the English official was not going to punish Castres’ insubordination.
“Maybe Munster were just that little bit off with their own aggression,” Quinlan queried before crediting Castres’ expertise in this department.
“Maybe they should have thrown a little bit of caution to the wind ... but they’re so well programmed about the discipline.”
Looking back to his own days playing for Munster against French sides, Quinlan admitted that he and his teammates would have expected such behaviour. Identifying one particular tie against the same opponents in 2004, Quinlan approached proceedings with an outlook that simply doesn’t fit in the modern game.
“Given license by coaches to go out and lose my discipline was very dangerous,” Quinlan recalled.
“I remember I went out in that game in Thomond Park and I went after [Richard] Dourthe every time I saw him near a huddle or a bit of a scuffle.
“I was standing there waiting for him.”
Encouraging Munster’s Johann van Graan to ‘rant and rave’ about an officiating performance that went against his side and ‘lacked control,’ Quinlan didn’t necessarily expect any aggravation on the province’s part to be made public.
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