Keatley’s shot at glory timed to perfection

Ian Keatley had a shot at glory. The clock showed 79:47 as Conor Murray flung the ball towards the Munster fly-half, deep in the pocket, his side trailing 26-24 in the dying seconds.

With the new Champions Cup pools so intensively competitive and even tougher assignments ahead against Saracens and Clermont Auvernge, his side’s entire European campaign depended on him making the kick.

Yet along with the ball spiralling towards him like a bullet out of Murray’s hands was the Sale Sharks scrum-half Chris Cusiter. Some might have pulled the trigger then and risked disaster but in that split second as Cusiter must have appeared to him like a charging rhino, Keatley weighed his options, assessed the risk and backed his team-mates to retain the ball long enough to get him back into drop-goal -kicking position.