Donal Lenihan: The real Munster quandary — where was this fight the week before?

All too often, Munster fail to play to the maximum of their ability on the days that really matter

Toulouse's Cheslin Kolbe claims a high ball. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

We’ve been down this road before. Many times. Munster, with their backs to the wall, where else, in search of some form of redemption.

Why does it always have to come to this? After a decade of failure on the days that really matter, such as at the semi-final and final stages of the major tournaments, the most recent against Leinster in the Guinness PRO14 final guaranteed that, at the very least, Munster would fight tooth and nail to record another famous win over Toulouse.

In the end, despite scoring four cracking tries, Munster came up short and are out of Europe. Well and all as Munster played, the real question is where was this performance seven days earlier with silverware at stake.

This Munster side isn’t yet equipped to negotiate the latter stages of the Champions Cup, hence the need to deliver a display of this quality in the PRO14 decider. Toulouse may not be good enough yet to win a first Champions Cup since 2010 but they are amongst the top four challengers.

Munster remain short of that. All too often, they fail to play to the maximum of their ability on the days that really matter. On Saturday, they came close but, crucially, when the game was in the melting pot in the last 15 minutes when they led by three points, Toulouse were the side with the capacity to shift into a higher gear. An emphatic return of 17 points on the home run was more than sufficient to get the job done. Once again, Munster are left on the outside looking in.

If you were told in advance that Munster would score four tries in a 33-point haul, and still end up on the losing side, you’d scarcely believe it. With the centre combination of Chris Farrell and Damian de Allende — playing his best game in red since his arrival — asking all kinds of questions of a makeshift Toulouse midfield, Munster will have reasons to be disappointed.

Overall, on the back of a dominant second-half showing that produced 31 points, Toulouse were full value for this win. Munster’s consolation try at the death was reflective of their never say die attitude throughout the entire contest but no more than that.

To be fair, the same applies to the visitors who responded within minutes to every Munster score with one of their own. It was that type of game. You couldn’t help but wonder what the decibel levels would have reached with a packed stadium.

This contest yearned for a full house for, even in a game as captivating as this, it was difficult not to feel the soulless nature of your surroundings. Not that Toulouse were bothered with that. Their willingness to work and fight for each other was in stark contrast to their last two visits to Limerick at the quarter-final stage in 2014 and 2017, when they capitulated on both occasions.

This group is made of sterner stuff and in South African World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe they have a genius who, at times, looked unmarkable. Twice in the opening half, he stepped both Gavin Coombes and Keith Earls and left them grasping thin air. Earls would have seen this before but Coombes looked mesmerised. It was like one of those magic tricks that leaves you scratching your head wondering what just happened as Kolbe rode off into the sunset.

Munster's Keith Earls scores a try despite the efforts of Selevasio Tolofua of Toulouse. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

Earls matched the Springbok's magic with two smashing tries in a hugely rewarding three-minute spell in an incredibly competitive first half that saw both teams enjoy periods of superiority. Over the course of the weekend, we witnessed a variety of French sides, most noticeably La Rochelle in their impressive win over Gloucester on Friday night, Clermont Auvergne, Toulouse, Lyon, and Racing 92 all display an almost telepathic understanding in their support play and ability to keep the ball alive in the tackle.

It’s the way French rugby was supposed to be played. Toulouse produced one such mesmeric phase when a quartet of their biggest lumps up front in Charlie Faumuina, Cyrille Baille, Julian Marchand, and Francois Cros all showed the softest of hands to frustrate Munster’s best efforts in defence. 

In total, Toulouse delivered 20 sumptuous offloads. Munster managed 12 of their own, an encouraging indication of their attacking intent.

The one area of concern for Toulouse coming into this game was a glaring weakness in protecting possession carried into contact, which Montpellier exploited to the full in their shock Top 14 win the previous weekend. Forearmed, Munster went in chase of turnovers at every breakdown.

This chink in their armor was tailor-made for Tadhg Beirne, CJ Stander, and Jack O Donoghue, in particular, to exploit with their renowned ability over the ball. It is the one vulnerability to the Toulouse offloading game, which tends to isolate the ball carrier when he is forced to ground.

They always look to stay on their feet and as a consequence don’t support the ball carrier quickly enough which leaves them exposed. Munster clearly identified this in advance and used it to good effect, especially in defensive situations.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the contest was the fact that there were only two scrums over the entire 80 minutes neither of which were to Munster. Given the size of the Toulouse front five that was probably to Munster’s advantage but it also meant the game was played at a faster tempo which suited the way the visitors look to play.

Not that Munster were found wanting in broken play when altering the entire course of the game with that brilliantly finished brace of tries from Earls in a three-minute surge between the 24th and 27th minutes.

Once again, Munster will look back on this truncated European season with regret on a day when the attacking potential of De Allende and Farrell finally came to fruition. Alas, it was a case of too little too late, especially for the likes of Stander and Billy Holland who bid adieu to distinguished careers with Munster on the European stage.

The big chink of light to emerge from this contest was the continued excellence of Coombes who looked so comfortable against a quality Toulouse forward unit. He is tailor-made to fill the ball-carrying mantle which Stander shouldered almost single-handedly for so long. His display also serves as a timely reminder to the coaching team of what can be achieved when you back young talent with an extended run of games in the company of more experienced players.

Despite that pivotal and potentially season-changing win away to Clermont Auvergne in round two, when they recovered from a 19-point deficit after 25 minutes of frantic action to win a classic, Munster never really kicked on from that seminal moment.

With nothing left to play for outside an utterly meaningless Rainbow Cup tournament that has all the trappings of a filler-inner, Munster’s season is as good as over. There will be plenty time for reflection but when one looks at the quality on offer in the last eight, the reality is that teams such as Leinster, Exeter Chiefs, La Rochelle, Toulouse, and Racing 92 are operating at a different level to Munster at present. There is still a hard road to travel.