General George McClellan was for a time the general in chief of the Union army during the early part of the American Civil War. He was known as a good organiser, built strong city defences and was strong in the operations room when battalions were moved around as symbols on a map.
We often hear the term ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ and vice versa. McClellan was a master at this and at the Battle of Antietam, with Robert E Lees’ Confederate army in full retreat, he simply refused to chase him down and claim a decisive victory which could have ended the war.
Half a dozen times McClellan did not close the deal when it was there for him.
US president Abraham Lincoln, bemused with the powerful Union armies which just sat there admiring themselves, lost patience with his general’s inactivity and declared: “If General McClellan isn’t going to use his army, I’d like to borrow it for a time”.
Lincoln sacked his under-performing general in 1862.
The news that Jason Jenkins has been signed by Munster for next season is, well, astonishing or at the very least tone-deaf. That makes it three Saffer second-rows that will constitute the Munster engine-room.
If Johann van Graan attempts to play Jenkins in the back-row, he is a worse coach than I had given him credit for. It is understood that whoever is bankrolling Munster’s marquee signings will also be shelling out for this waste of money. Is there any value for money here from any of them?
I hear RG Snyman is close to resuming training. That seven minutes they got out of him in that first match against Leinster is all they will get this season – at €400k per season, that’s €57,000 per minute.
Snyman’s main concern is getting back for the Springboks for the Lions tour of South Africa in June and July. He will presumably return from South Africa after the Rugby Championship concludes at the end of October.
He may get back in time for Ireland’s November Test window, when the provinces play Zebre and Benetton etc. What is the point?
Back to General McClellan. If Van Graan is not going to use Thomas Ahern, I suspect Leinster would like to borrow him for a while.
I look at Ryan Baird who is 21, the same age as Ahern. The two tyros are on a different graph. Baird has played 20 times for Leinster and has three caps for the national side.
Ahern, who has significant promise and ability, is being held back in a purgatorial clinch. His time will come – he is told – and then Munster bring in another useless Saffer who has to be played because the Munster benefactor is stumping up serious cash.
Devin Toner and Scott Fardy will be leaving Leinster at the end of this season. They have been two fantastic investments – one from the academy and one from the brains trust who have made the same instinctive calls on Nathan Hines and Brad Thorn.
I suspect Munster would rather surgically cut Ahern’s hamstrings than let him go to Leinster. Worse still, let him go to Leinster and watch him prosper.
How stupid are we that we allow this really poor business continue? How long will Munster fans put up with all these Saffers coming to Munster for a big pay day for very little return on investment and all to the detriment of home-grown players.
Munster were looking for some traction last weekend when chasing the game against Leinster. The margin between the two teams was slim but a converted try could have unsettled Leinster despite them being so dominant.
Munster attacked in the second half but two knock-ons by Jean Kleyn, in the 41st and 64th minutes, robbed them of any momentum. The passes to him were eminently catchable but the South African dropped them.
Later on in the game, when Leinster were attacking the Munster line, there was a telling moment when Jamison Gibson-Park threw a loose pass in the direction of Toner.
The ball was placed around his ankles yet Toner was, in traffic, able to stoop down and catch the ball off his shoe laces and barely break stride. It was an incredible pick-up and a telling summation of the difference in skill levels.
Kleyn has been in this country for four years and his hands are still as bad as when he arrived. Apart from smashing a few runners in straight-up tackles, what does he do all afternoon?
The decision to bring him to Japan ahead of Toner was a scandal and was the worst move Joe Schmidt made as head coach of the national side.
Munster have compounded prior errors with their recent signings, and the looming departure of Rhys Marshall would be just yet another hole burned in Munster’s roster and in their bank account.
You have to laugh when announcements are made where they say that Marshall is Irish-qualified.
A bit like Tom McCartney, the former Connacht hooker, a handy New Zealand club player who by dint of being here for five years became Irish-qualified and got into a few national squad sessions without the realisation that he did not come remotely close enough to the standard required to play Test rugby.
Tyler Bleyendaal was another handy Kiwi who like 50 or 60 club out-halves in New Zealand could come over here and do a passable imitation of a PRO12 or Champions Cup-standard out-half but no further.
Never buy crashed cars because they will always come back to haunt you.
Bleyendaal came over with a neck injury and Munster persisted and persisted. Bleyendaal got injured over and over and would come back and get injured again. When will we learn?
We are almost as bad as the Japanese league for paying big money for duds or for over-the-hill players.
The modern game is all about coaching. If you have an average roster but a good coach the team will win more games than they should.
If you have a bad coach and a good roster of players – well . . . Matt O’Connor proved that when he was in charge of Leinster.
The eastern province have been lucky – or is it luck? – to have had Michael Cheika and Schmidt in charge. The incumbents are pretty good too.
Munster, on the other hand, have had some turkeys in charge since Declan Kidney left the post. Tony McGahan and Rob Penney – decent rugby men, but very average.
Rassie Erasmus was going to be a very good Munster coach before he upped sticks. Rassie has been part of the problem ever since.
Rassie recommended Johann van Graan for the top job when he left in the middle of the season. Maybe it was a case of any port in a storm but if you had your head screwed on never in a million years would you give the top job of a powerhouse rugby brand to a video analyst with precious little hands-on experience of real coaching.
Everyone took Rassie’s recommendation at face value despite an act of betrayal that is rare in these parts of the world. He told everyone he was not leaving and then he left and left a lame duck in his place.
That lame duck has, like McClellan, been able to cope in some areas of the game but has been a pretty poor battlefield general, and when victories have been there for the taking Munster don’t have what it takes anymore to win the close ones that really matter.
The signing of Jenkins may not be the straw that breaks the camel’s back but I suggest we are not too far away.
The best financial investment Munster can make now is to pay out Van Graan’s last year on his contract and go over to La Rochelle and try and buy out Ronan O’Gara’s contract.
There is no man on the planet better suited to reversing Munster’s fortunes. He has the intelligence, the personality, the tactical acumen, the world experience and, most importantly, the will to do the job. A bona fide battlefield general.
Beating Toulouse this Saturday would be the worst thing that could happen.
