Donal Lenihan: Munster gave their all but heart and guts is no longer enough
KILLER: Saints' George Hendy goes over for the decisive 73rd minute Northampton try.
For Leinster, there's the chance of some form of redemption when the Champions Cup quarter finals kick off next weekend. For the fourth season in a row, La Rochelle pose a pretty formidable obstacle to Leinster’s quest for what they perceive as a long overdue fifth star on the famous blue jersey.
Unfortunately, with Ulster and Connacht already consigned to Challenge Cup duties, Leinster now represent the only Irish interest in the last eight of Champions Cup rugby on the back of Munster’s agonising defeat to Northampton Saints in a superb game at Franklins Gardens.
Graham Rowntree’s men found themselves in familiar territory this week, backs to the wall, questions being asked and doubts expressed about their ability to deliver a big result in the build-up to a European game against top-class English opposition.
This was a space Munster teams of old used to thrive in but, with success and the growth in understanding of what being a professional rugby player is all about came a realisation that raw emotion, on its own, will never be enough to succeed on a consistent basis at the top level.
In one-off games however, it still has its place. The question heading into the back yard of the Premiership leaders on Sunday was, are Northampton really that good and, with ten internationals of their own in the starting side, could Munster deliver the type of synchronised attacking template that saw them land the URC title against the odds last season?
When news filtered through that, despite being named in the starting team on Friday, RG Snyman was once again declared a non-starter, you sensed Munster would be in trouble. It beggars belief that in the four seasons Snyman has been with Munster, the mouth-watering dream second row pairing of the South African and Tadhg Beirne never managed to start a game together.
Further diluted by a mix of suspension and injury in the tight head prop department, with John Ryan, Oli Jager and Roman Salanoa all ruled out of contention which necessitated another 80 minute performance from the indefatigable 36 year old Stephen Archer, Munster were always going to struggle at the scrum when this exhilarating contest entered the final quarter.
When Munster review their performances in Europe this season, the first question to be addressed is their failure to perform anywhere near their best in fortress Thomond Park where they failed to register a win in either of their two home pool games.
This is somewhat baffling given their best performance of the season to date was in their away win against Toulon with this showing in Northampton not far behind. As a result of those disappointing results in Limerick, their knockout journey was always destined to be on the road.
Given the problems encountered in the build up, with Calvin Nash and Shane Daly also ruled out on Saturday, Munster were superb for long periods of this game. Their work rate at the breakdown was sensational, with the likes of Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony and John Hodnett successfully chasing turnovers from start to finish.
While the scrum creaked at vital moments, offering Northampton an escape valve when the pressure was greatest, it was the Saints' ability to strike from deep at vital moments in the final quarter when Munster were struggling to stay the pace and were finally undone by a brace of brilliant tries from 21 year old substitute George Hendy.
While disappointing, Munster can have no complaints given that the current English table toppers also squeezed a three point win from the pool game staged between the sides in Limerick in January and were equally good value for their win this time out.
The real difference between the sides was in the clinical manner with which the hosts finished all four of their tries with Munster guilty of falling off too many tackles. By way of contrast Munster’s two first half tries were hard-earned and managed to keep them in the contest right up to the point of Hendy’s second try in the 73rd minute.
Munster were out on their feet at that stage having given everything to the fight. While they will be devastated to exit the premier European stage in advance of the quarter finals, they can hold their heads high after giving everything to the cause.
The bottom line, as Leinster have shown for years, if you want to be contesting at the penultimate stage of this tournament, you have to bag as high a seeding as possible by nailing your home games. Ultimately, that’s where Munster fell down.
Leo Cullen's men secured their quarter final slot and with it another monstrous knockout clash against their nemesis of recent seasons in La Rochelle, who also came through a thorough examination against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
The incentive for Leinster, given they knew that outcome before the kick off against Leicester later in the evening, could not have been greater. Their first task was to take care of the immediate challenge of disposing a Leicester side short three key international forwards in George Martin, Ollie Chessum and Tommy Raffell.
While Leinster were comfortable winners in the end, there was enough in the gritty performance from an underpowered Tigers pack to concern Leo Cullen and Jacques Nienaber in advance of next Saturday’s explosive showdown.
Leicester’s scrum and maul created problems for Leinster as did their doggedness and refusal to lie down. Leinster’s indiscipline was a self inflicted wound at key times and but for an incredible performance from scrum half Jamison Gibson-Park, who delivered a masterclass in the opening half, the hosts may well have been in a spot of bother.
The fact that Leinster led by 12 points at the break, courtesy of a hat trick of tries in an inspired 17 minute window from the mesmeric No 9, was hardly representative of an opening half that saw Cullen’s men operate off a measly 46% possession and 32% territory.
Leicester’s traditional strength in the tight asked serious questions of a Leinster forward unit containing seven of Ireland’s Six Nations winning pack. Despite playing in fits and starts, the quality of Leinster’s attack and the excellence of the interplay play between the backs and forwards, especially from turnovers, was a joy to behold.
Gibson-Parks ability to scan from the base of the ruck and identify, in an instant, where the space was to attack proved crucial in all of Leinster’s first half scores. It helps when you have forwards of the calibre of Dan Sheehan manning the wide five metre channels with the pace, stepping and handling skills of a centre.
That, coupled with the scrum half’s ability to run the most sublime support lines, left the Leicester defence grasping at straws time and time again. An early second half try from former Munster loose head prop James Cronin, who had a fine game, reduced the Leinster lead to seven points within a minute of the sin binning of James Lowe, creating moments of anxiety for Cullen and Nienaber in the coaches box.
It also signalled an early call for the replacements to make an impact. When you have the luxury of summoning seven international’s, with 233 caps between them, from your bench chances are they’re going to make their presence felt.
By way of comparison, 38 year old Mike Brown was Leicester’s only capped player held in reserve. While the result was never in doubt, there was enough in Leinster’s performance to convince Ronan O'Gara that, despite his charges playing nowhere near their Champions Cup winning form of the last two seasons of late, they still carry sufficient firepower to inflict even more misery on Leinster ranks. It promises to be a very interesting week.
