Staying alive
Outplayed and outclassed, Munster’s task appeared hopeless.
Not for the first time, however, they summoned up reserves of courage and fortitude that have so long made them a major force in European rugby, forced the French on to the back foot, racked up the scores that got them to within seven points of the French and eked out the bonus point that sees them needing to beat Wasps by eight or more points at Thomond Park on Saturday to ensure they go through to the knock-out stages. They may still go through with a two point winning margin, but we’re into head-to-head tries and aggregate scores for that.
That’s the reward for a typically plucky performance in the last 20 minutes highlighted by a superbly taken try by Lifeimi Mafi after Munster had counter-attacked in magnificent fashion from their own 22. It’s still a big ask, not least because John Hayes suffered a shoulder knock that caused him to withdraw midway through the second half and makes him doubtful for Saturday. Furthermore, Paul O’Connell is definitely out with coach Declan Kidney indicating that it will be at least two weeks before he could again be considered. There is also a fear that Jerry Flannery will have a problem with the citing commissioner after an alleged incident involving Julien Bonnaire, the Clermont number six.
Kidney was tight-lipped when the subject of the badly cut ear sustained by Ronan O’Gara was raised but there is little doubt that he was the victim of foul play. The culprit escaped but three of his team-mates, Loic Jacquet, Julien Malzieu and Alexandre Audebert were not so fortunate. All were binned by the English referee Rob Debney who belied his relative inexperience at this level by handling a fiercely contested clash bravely and honestly. Many of his decision infuriated the home fans and he certainly could not have been accused of being a “homer.”
However, the failure of Munster to take advantage of having three members of the opposing side off the field for a total of 30 minutes clearly disappointed a downbeat Kidney. However he took solace from the fact that his side took something from a game that he accepts was dominated by Clermont for the opening 32 minutes and for other stages later in the proceedings.
But he warned: “We won’t have a chance against the reigning champions (Wasps) if we don’t play a lot better than that.
“I would never question the spirit and honesty of the players but that doesn’t cover up why we were so far off the mark today. We will look at what went wrong.”
There were one or two glimpses of Doug Howlett’s class and Lifeimi Mafi took his crucial try in style, even if he could hardly have believed that the Clermont defence would have left such a glaring gap at the end of a move that began at the other end of the field. The introduction of replacements Tony Buckley and Alan Quinlan for the final quarter or so also helped the cause but one thing is for sure — there should be no over-confidence going into Saturday’s game. On the evidence of yesterday’s performance there would be no grounds whatever for it.
Munster certainly couldn’t complain about a 20-6 half time lead for the French. Their intensity was absolutely ferocious and rocked the visitors back on their heels. Even though O’Gara put Munster ahead with a 10th minute penalty and also finished the first half with a second goal kick, in between it was all Clermont; and at times it took desperate defence to keep the big men up front and fliers like Aurelien Rougerie, Julien Malzieu and Seremaia Bai, at bay.
Something had to give, of course, and the inevitable came to pass on 19 minutes when will-of-the-wisp scrum-half Pierre Mignoni wriggled his way over close to the Munster posts after strong pressure and Brock James tapped over the conversion. Even at this early stage, it was clear that the Munster scrum was in dire straits, paving the way for James to knock over a penalty. With a seven pointadvantage safely banked away, Clermont were happy to spread it wide and test the Munster defensive will.
They gave it their all, not least on the half hour when somehow preventing Elvis Vermeulen from getting the touch down after he was blasted over the Munster line by a whole regiment of colleagues. Nevertheless, the French took three points from the attack courtesy of another James penalty and a distinctly embarrassing day looked to be evolving when Mario Ledesma crashed over in the 34th minute, James converting.
Mafi did cross the Clermont line in the 39th minute but referee Rob Debney quite rightly ruled no score and instead awarded a close range penalty for a previous infringement. Munster opted for a scrum and in the ensuing melee the home second-row Loic Jacquet was yellow carded. The pressure was maintained but David Wallace and Marcus Horan were held up just short and Munster had only O’Gara’s second penalty to show for all their effort.
Jacquet was joined in the bin immediately after the restart by Malzieu when he deliberately knocked on a potential scoring pass from Rua Tipoki to Brian Carney. This was another decent Munster spell but their inability to capitalise on having Clermont reduced to 13 players hurt them badly. If anything, that they were out-muscled in a couple of mauls did wonders for Clermont morale. After one such assault, Munster were penalised and James again found the target.
At 23-6 down and 25 minutes still to play, it was looking ominous indeed for Munster. But then that their traditional heart and courage came to the fore and produced a result that keeps alive their hopes alive of a tenth successive quarter-final place.
ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE: A Floch; A Rougerie (capt), M Joubert, S Bai, J Malzieu; B James, P Mignoni; L Emmanuelli, M Ledesma, M Scelzo, A Jacquet, T Privat, J Bonnaire, A Audebert, E Vermeulen.
Replacements: D. Zirakashvili for Emmanuelli (56); C. Samson for Privat (62); S. Broomhall for Vermeulen (65); B. Baby for Bai (68).
MUNSTER: S Payne; B Carney, R Tipoki, L Mafi, D Howlett; R O’Gara (capt), P Stringer; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll, D Leamy, D Wallace, A Foley.
Replacements: T. Buckley for Hayes (58); A. Quinlan for Foley (64).
Referee: Rob Debney (England).
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