O’Donovan On Champions Cup Draw

Reaction from Munster Team Manager Niall O’Donovan on today’s 2016/17 Champions Cup Draw where Munster will face Racing 92, Glasgow Warriors and Leicester Tigers in Pool 1 of the competition.

In a grouping that sees former Munster playmaker Ronan O’Gara make a welcome visit to Thomond Park in a coaching capacity, Munster and French Top 14 champions Racing 92 will face each other in the pool stages for the first time since 2012/13. Back then, Racing came from behind to snatch victory with two late penalties in the Stade de France, however Munster made it one apiece on the return leg with a comprehensive 29-6 win in Thomond Park.
 
Munster will be no strangers to the second team drawn in Pool 1, their PRO12 counterparts Glasgow Warriors whom, as recently as 2014/15, they faced in the Guinness PRO12 final.  These sides will meet in European competition for the first time next season.
 
Lastly, Munster will be keen to avenge back-to-back defeats to Leicester Tigers in last season’s competition.  Both clubs share a rich history in the competition with Leicester taking the spoils in four of the sides’ six encounters.  Back in 2007, Tigers became the first visiting side to defeat Munster in European competition at Thomond Park.
 
Speaking after today’s draw, O’Donovan commented, “We always knew we were in store for a difficult challenge, so to see opposition such as the Top14 champions and this year’s Champions Cup runners-up, Racing Metro, PRO12 semi-finalists Glasgow Warriors and Premiership semi-finalists Leicester Tigers in our pool is no surprise.
 
“But this is what this competition is about – it’s the top 20 clubs in European Rugby competing for the highest accolade so we didn’t expect any less and every pool presents its own challenges.  There are no easy groups in this, everybody is fighting to get to the knock-out stages.
 
“With the long European history with Leicester and our battles with them last season we only know too well what lies ahead of us, similarly with our PRO12 colleagues Glasgow Warriors we know we are in store for some exciting tussles.
 
“Looking at the three sides they have all experienced Thomond Park before and will have no fear coming over to us, and of course Racing Metro with the Ronan O’Gara influence, he will have them well briefed on us.  They are the French club champions for a reason and they don’t come bigger than that.
 
“As always our European journey is hugely exciting for the squad and our supporters and although we haven’t achieved what we wanted in the last two seasons our supporters have always stood by us, whether it’s France, Italy, England or Thomond Park they turn out in huge numbers and get behind the team.
 
“We’ll treat our campaign no different to previous seasons and take it round by round, and while getting through the pool stages is always a massive challenge we need to ensure we put in a performance on each occasion.”
 
Click here for full draw details.