Munster's Calvin Nash looking to give standout performance in the Shark Tank
Asked about the trip to South Africa and
Calvin Nash
smiles.
'Good. Flew Dublin to London – Joburg – Durban. Got a good sleep. In economy,' he says.
We all know what economy is like for 12 hours and maybe with that first-world kind of pain,
Munster
are asking their players to reach back for the base values they have exploited so well in the past as they face Sharks to sustain rugby life for one more week this season in the
United Rugby Championship
(URC) quarter-final.
Munster have beaten Sharks before, just not in Kings Park, where the weather on Saturday is forecast to be 25 degrees and sunny. But Nash points out that Limerick has never been so much like the shores of the Indian Ocean over the past few weeks and if the weather is seen as a challenge, they have already slam-dunked that back at base.
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Nash though, is less pleased with his own form than with Munster's canny survival instincts that got them here, with wins in their last two games against Ulster and Benetton. In that there was a bit of the old dog, and it is exactly what they seek when World Cup-winning Shark's captain Eben Etzebeth and his Springbok-loaded side steps into what they call the Shark Tank on Saturday.
'Ammm ... I haven't been too happy with my performances if I am being honest with you,' says Nash. 'I feel like there is still probably a bit in me.
Munster's Calvin Nash and Craig Casey celebrate after Lee Barron scores their side's second try against Benetton at Virgin Media Park, Cork on May 16th. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
'I want to have a lot more standout performances but look, I'm obviously not getting frustrated with it. I feel like I am doing my part for the team, but standards-wise I would prefer to be pushing myself out there and standing out a bit more.
'I think a few weeks ago I dropped off in beating defenders and the first man, which is something I felt like I was quite good at before.
'For whatever reason I felt like my carrying wasn't as good as what it had been, so from the Benetton game, I just tried to go back to basics and focus on that – don't be thinking about other things and just scanning a bit better and communicating a bit better.
'I have tried to just narrow my focus, work on my aerial work and beating people and just backing myself with my reads in defence – stuff that I feel like I am good at.'
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Jack Crowley passed fit for Munster's journey to Durban
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If it is a call to arms for everyone to unlock their potential, believe there is more in their lockers, it is a canny move from the Irish winger, who is a likely candidate to travel to Georgia and Portugal this summer for the Ireland team tour.
They depart in early July with Paul O'Connell as head coach, with matches in Tbilisi on July 5th and Lisbon on the 12th.
The squad will be without the Lions players and Andy Farrell as well as several coaches, but Nash understands that to book a ticket on the flight, the end-of-season knockout games - especially those in hostile environments - say a lot about the character of players.
'Yeah, it is a big goal,' he says. 'You set out goals at the start of every season and you don't really know what way the season is going to go for you. It is a big goal to get on the tour this summer but being honest, like I said, I need to get my performances up again and hopefully fly into this weekend.'
Nash looks back to Munster's game against La Rochelle as one of the best he has ever played with the team, and any comparison stimulates his self-critical antennae. He believes he is not playing badly but where to find those extra percentages to have him humming and operating at more revs and with better accuracy than in recent matches? It is more aspirational than critical.
'Especially towards the end of the season, I want to have as good games as I possibly can do,' he says. 'I'm just trying to be hard on myself and want to push myself a bit more to get better and to be the overall player that I know I can be and not have any regrets.
'So, yeah, I was just putting it out there being hard on myself. To be honest, I don't think I've been playing poorly, I just have more in me.'
In a hotly challenging weekend, Munster dearly hope that they have more in them too.
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