Donal Lenihan: Munster campaign in peril after playing right into the Chiefs' hands
Jack Dunne of Exeter Chiefs scores a try despite the attentions of Munster's Shane Daly. Picture: INPHO/Ashley Crowden
The Gallagher Premiership has come in for a lot of criticism recently, having to operate under a reduced salary cap and with three of its frontline clubs, Wasps, London Irish and Worcester, all entering administration before dropping out of the league last season.
In the circumstances, much uncertainty surrounded their competitiveness and appetite for battle entering this season's Investic Champions Cup in the build-up to the opening round last week. All that changed on the back of seven wins for their eight participants.
Three of those were achieved on the road with notable victories for Northampton in Glasgow, Harlequins over Racing 92 in Paris and, most impressive of all, Exeter Chiefs away to former champions Toulon.
When you put those results into context, Munster’s failure to beat an understrength Bayonne side in Thomond Park upped the ante considerably for Graham Rowntree’s men heading into Exeter’s revered Sandy Park yesterday.
It’s just over three years since Rob Baxter’s men won the Champions Cup but such has been the exodus from that ageing squad who beat Racing 92 behind closed doors in Bristol due to Covid, only three, Olly Woodburn, Henry Slade and Ollie Devoto, were still left standing in yesterday.
While the personnel may have changed dramatically, the DNA of what the Chiefs bring to the party hasn’t altered one bit. Up front, despite their comparative youth, they still place a huge emphasis on power at the set-piece and a massive physicality at the breakdown.
Given Munster’s issues in those areas of late, especially when defending the lineout maul, that was always going to be the hosts' first port of call. In that respect, the facility for Rowntree to recall Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager and Jack O'Donoghue was a plus but having to start regular No 8 Gavin Coombes in unfamiliar surroundings in the second row from the outset was hardly ideal.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to test Munster’s mettle, their punishing line speed creating early problems for the visitors in attack with little or no space for Jack Crowley to direct operations. To his credit, he identified an alternative route to exploit with grass available in the wide five-metre tramlines.
The challenge was finding it through a variety of kick passes that immediately began to pay dividends. With Calvin Nash creating havoc every time he was in possession, Munster cleverly identified a route to the try line. By the break, two of three tries scored had come via this source.
One delicate kick pass bounced perfectly for the rampaging Tom Ahern, the 6’9” giant showing the pace and athleticism that was so evident during his days with the Irish U20 side. In between those scores, Munster had to dig deep. On three occasions they defended potentially damaging lineout mauls that every side is now chasing, especially against Munster, to keep their line intact.
At the other end, a spectacular try on the stroke of half-time — finished magnificently by Antoine Frisch after a sequence of exquisite inter-passing between Ahern, Crowley, Sean O'Brien and Shane Daly — highlighted once again just how Munster’s skillset has improved over the last year.
A brilliant turnover penalty manufactured by the captain Tadhg Beirne on his goal line right on the half-time whistle was inspirational and gave Munster an additional fillip as they sprinted down the tunnel for the half-time refreshments in rude health.
That feelgood factor was enhanced further within ten minutes of the resumption when Shane Daly delivered Munster’s fourth try. With a bonus point already in the bag, that was when they needed to drive the nail into the coffin.
Remarkably, from that moment things flipped dramatically on its head with Exeter, for the second week in a row, stealing a game they seemed destined to lose. In so many respects, Munster were the architects of their own downfall with a series of unforced errors and poor game management that may come back to haunt them.
We may be a week from Christmas but Munster were guilty of dishing out some early presents, none more costly than the failure of Nash to deal with a bouncing ball that landed gloriously in the hands of former Leinster second-row Jack Dunne, enabling Exeter deliver two tries in a crazy three-minute spell that ultimately propelled them to victory. Munster looked shell-shocked.
Munster need to seriously look at their lack of control in the final quarter when they were guilty of playing too much rugby from deep against a voracious Exeter defence that targeted and smashed Munster’s ball carriers behind the gain line. In that respect, Munster played right into the Chiefs' hands, with every punishing tackle sending the home crowd into raptures with their young team responding in kind.
The inevitable consequence was an intercept try at the death - the third intercept Exeter pilfered over the course of the game. That not only robbed Munster of a losing bonus point but cemented an additional point for Exeter local hero and England international Henry Slade doing the damage. How costly will that two-point swing prove when this highly competitive pool draws to its conclusion next month?
For the second week in a row, Munster managed to turn a situation where they seemed assured of collecting all five points into one where they ended up with considerably less. With a very challenging trip to Toulon next up in January, Munster are in real danger of being out of contention for the knockout phase even before Northampton arrive in Limerick for the final pool outing a week later. Nobody saw that coming.
Leinster’s seismic opening win over La Rochelle not only offered everyone in their camp a huge boost but marked a significant scalp for new coach Jacques Nienaber in his first European test with his new squad.
Such was the impact of that win, Sale Sharks coach Alex Sanderson chose their visit to Dublin to rest many of his frontline troops with a heavy festive schedule awaiting. With a home win already secured and the probability of returning empty-handed from the RDS, he rotated his squad accordingly, retaining just four starters from what amounts to his first-choice team.
I find this really frustrating. Why break your back qualifying for the Champions Cup if you are not going to put your best foot forward? To their credit, Sale showed up and carried the fight to Leinster for long periods before eventually succumbing to the power and overall class of Leo Cullen’s men.
Leinster made life difficult for themselves for long periods in the opening half, lacking their usual precision and accuracy when camped in the Sale 22. The key to this bonus point win was fashioned with a brace of tries within a four-minute spell either side of the half-time whistle.
Over the years, Leinster have made an art form of hitting teams with such hammer blows in those key championship minutes. On this occasion, those pivotal tries from two of their best performers on the night in Josh van der Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park proved crucial in killing off the challenge posed by the current Gallagher Premiership leaders.
With qualification to the Round of 16 all but guaranteed already, Leinster’s focus now will be on finishing the pool phase with the highest possible ranking, enabling them to extend their home advantage for as long as possible throughout the knockout phase.
What Munster would give right now to be in that position.
