Tom Farrell: 'At Connacht, on the outside looking in at Munster, I was a bit envious of the big days'
Tom Farrell is hoping Friday will be on the big nights he believes brings out the best in Munster as the province bids to secure its place in the URC play-offs and qualify for next season's Champions Cup.
Top-eight rivals Benetton are set to visit a sold-out Virgin Media Park in Cork for the final game of the regular season with both sides needing a victory to be sure of extending their season into the knockout rounds beginning at the end of this month.
Munster kept those hopes alive at Thomond Park last Friday when they landed a 38-20 bonus-point victory over derby rivals Ulster, thus ending the northerners' play-off ambitions but the message from inside the Reds' camp since the final whistle in Limerick has been that the job is only half done.
That fits right in with what defence coach Denis Leamy said about the organisation on Tuesday, that it is built on knockout rugby and rising to the occasion when it mattered most. As a player in his first season at Munster since a summer move from Connacht, outside centre Farrell admitted those big-game expectations had always attracted him to the southern province.
He has more than played his part in delivering big moments in a standout season in which he has started every game in both the URC and Champions Cup, a contribution that sees the 31-year-old lead the league with nine tries scored, 40 offloads, 223 carries and 217 post-contact metres. Farrell is also second in the URC for defenders beaten, 58, and minutes played, 1293.
That will count for nothing if Munster fail to get the job done in Cork on Friday but Farrell believes the high stakes will bring out the best in his team, something he also relishes.
'I noticed it in some of the bigger games, just that level of expectation from the outside, from supporters and others, but also it carries in here and you do realise the magnitude of it and please God now we'll live up to it," Farrell said.
"I enjoy it, yeah. When I was at Connacht, on the outside looking in at Munster, I was probably a bit envious of it, the big days. I've had some big days here already, like La Rochelle, Croke Park, the All Blacks, they were cool days that I look back on.
"I do enjoy it. That bit of pressure I think brings the best out of players and I'd like to think it brings the best out of us as a team."
Munster are certainly getting the best out of Farrell when it matters. His hat-trick of tries against Ulster in Belfast just before Christmas delivered a valuable away victory and he followed up in the return fixture last Friday with double at Thomond Park in a man of the match performance, adding to performances and a durability that make this such a memorable campaign from a personal point of view.
'I had a few (seasons) in my early years and later years in Connacht with the same type of injury freeness, but in terms of output or contribution this is probably my best season to date yet, touch wood.
'A lot of it is luck, genuinely. I haven't changed my routine or done anything different since I started. I've always done what I needed to do, my extras with recovery or whatever, but this year I've managed to stay injury free, go on a bit of a run because probably this year there's been injuries in the backline that have opened up a space for me when I wasn't supposed to be playing. 'Tommy, you're going again'.'
And so he will once more on Friday night, completing an ever-present 18 games across the URC regular season in his 24th consecutive Munster appearance, though Farrell is not taking anything for granted in terms of performance levels as a team, despite the encouraging signs from a six-try outing last time out.
'Rugby is so up and down. Like we had a great game against Ulster but the week before that we weren't where we needed to be against Cardiff.
"So I don't try to get too high or too low about things. Like after Cardiff you get disappointed but you can't let yourself dwell on it too much because you've Ulster coming up, and you can't rest on your laurels after Ulster, so I just try to stay as level as I can."
It is a wise policy with Benetton arriving in Cork having defeated defending champions Glasgow 33-7 last Saturday with a performance Farrell said would not allow Munster to cast an eye beyond Friday night.
'We haven't even talked about play-offs. We know the magnitude of this game and the level of opposition that's coming to town after they put 30 points on a fully loaded Glasgow team. So we know what's coming."
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