Perpignan take the wind out of Munster’s sails
A fired up French side delighted their partisan supporters with the manner in which they overcame a shaky first half to dominate the second period during which they kept their visitors scoreless in spite of playing into the teeth of a bitingly cold and very strong wind.
Whereas Perpignan sang and danced in celebration of their near certain qualification for the quarter-finals, the Munster players and fans were silent and mournful... no sign of the Fields of Athenry from a sizeable but silenced band of red-bedecked men and women in the terraces and stands, no ecstatic rendering of Stand Up and Fight from the dressing room.
Quite simply, there was nothing to sing about, more, it was a case of accepting that on the day, Munster were far from good enough.
It gives one no satisfaction to be critical considering what the majority of these players have achieved in the past. This time, however, they capitulated tamely and uncharacteristically. They even panicked, in the words of coach Alan Gaffney.
Had they been offered a five point interval deficit before kick-off, they would have taken it readily for the wind was seriously meaningful and a Munster try on the stroke of half time could hardly have come at a better juncture.
Down 8-13, we waited for a performance that would silence Perpignan and their fans. It never came. Whereas the French performed the basics with unrelenting impressiveness, Munster couldn't get the ball, and when they did, were guilty of some outrageous errors.
It is clear the departure of Peter Clohessy and the semi-retired status of Mick Galwey is being keenly felt.
Then there were the injured absentees, Rob Henderson, Anthony Horgan, David Wallace and Paul O'Connell. They are all powerful ball carriers and without their influence there was a glaring lack of penetration.
The statistics indicate that to qualify for the quarter-finals, Munster must score three tries more than Gloucester at Thomond Park next Saturday and beat them by more than 19 points. Let's not forget Gloucester destroyed Munster more emphatically than the 35-16 score line would indicate when the sides met at Kingsholm in October and not even the Thomond Park factor is likely to close such a yawning gap.
If that wasn't bad enough, several more players returned from France nursing injuries. Mick O'Driscoll has a foot injury; Jeremy Staunton, the one Munsterman to enhance his reputation on Saturday, hobbled off the plane with fluid on his knee; Ronan O'Gara was suffering from bruising in the chest and Peter Stringer's hand was in a bandage.
None of the Munster party attempted to excuse the poverty of their efforts in Perpignan. They had problems with the fourth official a Frenchman who in the words of manager Jerry Holland, "manhandled" Galwey as he attempted to enter the fray in the dying minutes but none at all with Welsh referee Nigel Williams.
In no way could he be described as a "homer" even if he might have earlier brandished the yellow card that eventually saw Perpignan skipper Bernard Goutta sinbinned late on.
In the end, the spoils rest with the better team. An ashen-faced Gaffney accepted it all stoically but he looked almost shell shocked by the extent of the second half collapse.
"I think we panicked a lot of times," admitted the Munster coach. "We tried to score off first phase instead of building the phases. The pressure came on and the players will be disappointed when they see the video. We got the try when it mattered most but the second 40 was a big disappointment."
For Munster to prevail at this level they need the big players to deliver, but this time Ronan O'Gara had one of his more frustrating days; the restart that didn't travel the required 10 metres was a bad error and was cruelly punished as it led directly to Pascal Giordani's second try of the match. Nor was O'Gara's option taking and tactical kicking up to his usual high standard.
The three-quarter line lacked penetration, the wings and especially John Kelly hardly saw the ball and it was left to Staunton and Stringer to salvage reputation behind the scrum.
But as everybody agreed, the issue was decided up front with the French completely dominating the second half. Phil Murphy, the Canadian No 8 with Irish parents, was the only capped player in their pack against seven for Munster, but it hardly looked that way.
"We weren't too worried when Munster scored just before half time because we usually play better when the wind is in our face," said Murphy. "When you're passing and the wind is coming from behind you, it's very easy to have the knock-ons off your fingertips, whereas with the wind against, the ball is coming towards us. We prefer that.
"It takes the wind out of our lungs and the gas out of our legs but we enjoy playing against rather than with the elements."
In contrast, it was a grim day for the Munster pack which folded after a decent first half effort.
"The fact that we got ourselves in good field position and had the opportunities to grab tries and didn't take them was a bitter disappointment," said skipper Jim Williams. "Ball handling and turning over ball in good field
positions let us down. We were losing ball off the lineouts, guys were getting caught in bad body positions and this stopped us right in our tracks. It was due to bad concentration and a lack of patience and certainly not complacency. We knew they were going to come at us and we should have been ready for it. We weren't."
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