Foley: ‘Munster aren’t in transition’

Editor

Munster head coach Anthony Foley has rejected any suggestion that his side are in the midst of a transition after successive Champions Cup losses.

Sunday's 17-6 defeat away to Leicester Tigers leaves the two-time champions facing a huge fight to make the quarter-finals.

With the departure of Paul O'Connell last season and a number of new faces in the squad, Munster might be considered to be going through a period of major change – but Foley disagrees.

"We are never in transition, with a club like this you have to stay at the peak," he told the EPC Rugby website.

"We have an expectation among us to stay at the top and we are fighting to stay up there."

Assessing his side's shortfalls at Welford Road, Foley felt that Munster lacked enough cutting edge when presented with chances to score.

"We made hard work of it in their 22, we did not stay patient and did not score enough. We turned the ball over way too softly and with clear-cut opportunities we threw forward passes or got turned over," he added.

"All those are massive turning points in the game and they take the momentum away from you.

"Part of me is so proud of the boys in terms of how they played and how they created those opportunities but the other half is disappointed that we were not clinical enough, we were not ruthless enough.

"I have been fortunate to come here and win a couple of times and you have got to be lucky enough to get those opportunities and you have got to capitalise on them and the boys did not finish them.

"That is probably the pain we will feel."