Donal Lenihan: Unlucky Ulster draw short straw as Munster wallop Wasps 

Wasps’ Paolo Odogwu is tackled by Tadhg Beirne and Jack O’Donoghue of Munster. The contest between the two sides served as a reminder to all and sundry of just how difficult Munster are to beat. Picture: Inpho/Dan Sheridan

It was a great weekend for the Irish provinces, but not so good for the Heineken Champions Cup itself. At a time when the relaxation of Covid restrictions in this country reacquainted everyone with the feeling of freedom, the enforced cancellation of three key Heineken Champions Cup games over the weekend has inflicted another damaging blow to the integrity of the competition.

To compound the many issues facing the EPCR board, the fact that Leinster have scored 23 tries and 153 points in their last two outings against Montpellier and Bath makes a mockery of the fact that this tournament is supposed to be the preserve of European rugby’s elite.

As always, Leinster were ruthless and clinical in their approach and execution. Bath, a once-proud European club, just couldn’t live with them.

Ulster did their usual in making life difficult for themselves when conceding three tries in the final 10 minutes, turning an emphatic 34-12 lead into a narrow three-point victory.

That said, four wins from four in the tournament to date leaves them nicely poised for the next round, even if lady luck has deserted them by placing them on a collision course with reigning champions Toulouse. Their performances deserved a better reward than that.

While Connacht are entitled to be thrilled with their achievement in making the knockout phase of the Champions Cup for the first time, the fact that it was achieved before their departure for Paris as a result of Toulouse’s game against Cardiff being cancelled, took the sting out of their clash with Stade.

Not that you would have noticed from a cracking contest that, for the second week in a row, saw Connacht lose, despite enjoying a substantial lead heading into the final quarter, having played some brilliant rugby in the process.

Coming into the game, a spate of injuries to frontline props in Finlay Bealham, Mathew Burke, Jack Aungier, Dominic Robertson-McCoy and Tietie Tuimauga left them vulnerable at scrum time — not a position you want to find yourself in against any French opposition. With Bundee Aki also ruled out due to illness, Connacht were vulnerable.

Their suspect scrum ultimately proved the difference between the sides, with Connacht conceding five penalties from the 13 scrums contested. Despite the 37-31defeat in a riveting contest, the two bonus points secured saw them finish the pool phase in a highly competitive fifth position.

While Munster secured their place in the next phase on the back of a 100% return from their opening three games, yesterday’s contest against Wasps not only offered the opportunity to copper fasten an all-important home route to potential quarter and semi-final action, but a reminder to all and sundry of just how difficult they are to beat now that Thomond Park has returned to full capacity.

The circumstances surrounding this game were completely different to their opening meeting, when Munster emerged with a convincing bonus point win to get their campaign off to an adrenaline-charged start.

With 17 changes to Munster’s match-day squad and 13 to the visitors’, comparisons with that opening clash were meaningless.

A far greater indicator of the transformation in the visitors’ form were noteworthy wins over Gallagher Premiership leaders Leicester Tigers and reigning European champions, Toulouse, over the last two weekends.

Not that Munster were in any way intimidated by those results. Given the lack of attacking ambition shown in their recent performances, Munster were unrecognisable in the opening quarter, keeping the ball alive in the tackle and playing with far more tempo.

The rewards were there for all to see. Andrew Conway enjoyed five touches in the opening 15 minutes alone, more than he had over the entire game against Castres. Clinical in the opposition 22, Munster were good value for their 24-7 lead at the break, with three tries already in the bag.

Munster’s ability to create several multi-phase attacking plays stressed the Wasps defence continuously. Young out half Charlie Atkinson, starting ahead of the injured Jimmy Gopperth, had a nightmare opening quarter when he was relentlessly targeted by Munster.

For a team only requiring a losing bonus point to progress, the lack of nous shown by Wasps in the opening half was extraordinary. Harried into mistakes and showing very poor game management, the visitors played right into Munster hands. No better side to smell blood in circumstances where the opposition look less than assured.

Perhaps as a result of the long delay before the break for the neck injury suffered by Wasps’ Thomas Youngs, the second half never really took off. Not that Munster will be worried.

The most noticeable aspect of the day was the brace of tries scored by crowd favourite Simon Zebo to overtake the legendary Anthony Foley as the province’s all-time leading try scorer on 25. Even more pleasing was the fact that Munster registered six tries in total, having registered just one a game in the two games against Castres, in a dominant 45-7 thrashing of the English Premiership side.

With the excellent Gavin Coombes back to his best after illness and injury, his explosive carries put Munster on the front foot throughout. With fellow back rowers Jack O’Donoghue and Peter O’Mahony also at their impactful best, Wasps were denied any real foothold in the game.

A refreshingly youthful Munster bench made a decent impact, none more so than hooker Scott Buckley in his first appearance since a man-of-the-match performance against the same opposition in the opening game. He really looks very comfortable at this level and is knocking at the door for more consistent involvement in the match-day squad.

Finishing as third seed in Pool B may well prove advantageous should Munster advance from the round of 16, where they meet 2020 Champions Cup winners Exeter Chiefs on consecutive weekends in early April — the second leg in Thomond Park.

Irish fans will also be treated to a cracking Irish derby when Leinster and Connacht clash in that round of 16, thus guaranteeing at least one Irish presence in the quarter-finals. So much to look forward to after the Six Nations.