Munster Coach Matt Brown confident re Connacht game

Munster Women’s Head Coach Matt Brown spoke to the Media this week ahead of Sunday’s Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship Round 1 clash against Connacht at Virgin Media Park (4.15pm).
Here are some of the quotes:
Mood In The Camp:
“I think everyone is excited especially with this group because there’s so many young girls in it with the Irish girls away. So, there is a fair bit of anticipation, for the families as well I’d say, if there are any first caps coming down the line. So yeah, everyone is excited and I think when you’ve been training for that long everyone is excited for the game because with training you can never directly replicate it, so yeah, we’re all in a good spot we hope but ask me again Sunday evening.”
Player Selection:
“Yeah look, with the nature of the women’s AIL game in Munster, you’re always going to have a strong group from there and the fact we even have girls that have already won Interpros with Munster before as well it probably works out quite well in the fact that a lot of the young girls have girls to look up to who have done it before. By the same token, we were fairly clear to the girls that have been there before that they have an extra job here in minding these girls coming through which is pretty important as well if we want to talk about legacy and where we want to get the game to. So yes, there’s a World Cup going on but these girls still have a job to do. Hopefully, they appreciate that and we can deliver on that front as well.”
Maeve Óg O’Leary as Captain:
“It was probably more about the energy she shows around training with the other girls, especially the younger girls. She bridges a gap in some ways. Between the girls who’ve done a lot and the girls who are brand new in and she’s just incredibly positive around the place. So, look there were probably two or three girls that we considered and as it happens we’ve brought them into the leadership roles as well so she’s the named captain and I’m sure she’ll do a great job but she’ll be fairly well supported as well.”
Preparing For Connacht:
“It’s very hard because firstly everyone is in the same boat with internationals missing so everyone’s a bit of an unknown quantity but from what I hear there’s some very strong Connacht girls that would have played Irish 20s recently that are back for this game but hadn’t been involved in their recent friendly. We’re the same so I think we’re just going to focus on performance for this weekend. Go as hard as we can and try to put things on the pitch that we’ve worked on in training. We’re just rolling the dice after that and seeing how they pitch up. If it goes our way, great, but once we put a performance in that’s where we are trying to head and that’s how we framed this season. Get that first one done then just keep improving from there every session and every game.”
New additions to the squad:
“With the amount of young girls we have in and new to the scene, it’s really exciting to see what they’re going to do. I’d say there’s a fair amount of nerves if they’re called in for first caps, both them and the families. Just the fact we’ve trained so much now it’s time to get on the pitch and that’s the fun part anyway so you know there’s something wrong if they’re not excited.”
Effects Of The World Cup:
“I think there’s going to be some decisions made this week and that might have a knock on effect on squads. But there’s no doubt the Irish coaches will be watching these Interpros so if something hasn’t gone somebody’s way, you know they’ve got a series now to really try and change somebody’s mind or just prove something.
“Which ultimately once they get to that level, you’re coming down to a coaches perception and a bit of luck and somebody else in your position might be having an off day or maybe too many good days and it’s just not fallen your way.
“So you’re kind of looking to tip the balance because it’s so competitive at the very top end and if we can give girls the platform to progress that way or change some perceptions, then happy days and if not, it’s important that they realise that they need to deliver for Munster anyway.”
Home Advantage:
In my previous experience, the girls, they feed off the energy that you might get from the crowd, especially down there (Cork). I’ve seen it before. Especially when there’s games in the balance, we have no idea how this can go again we know so little about the opposition and they’re probably the same as us. The girls will be trying to dig deep and find something somewhere to see if you can kick on a little bit and look, hopefully there’s a decent crowd there and if there is, I’m sure the girls will all buy into that and it becomes a two way thing and they feed off each other and hopefully we get the momentum and give them something to cheer about then it might fall in our favour.”

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