Not quite like old times at Thomond as Munster defeat Toulouse
Reminds you of the glory days in the noughties, of the Claw and Gaillimh, Axel and Quinny, Rog and Strings as the Red Army looks forward to yet another away day in just three weeks, recalling all those legendary trips to 11 previous semi-finals.
Across to Bordeaux and Beziers, up to Lansdowne and Croker, Munster supporters have seen it, done it and bought the beret.
Just whatever you do, don’t remind Peter O’Mahony and his team.
Their victory over Toulouse was all about them, sealed by late converted tries from Darren Sweetnam and Andrew Conway after four penalties from Tyler Bleyendaal and a try apiece from man-of-the-match John Ryan and CJ Stander had kept the French side at arm’s length for the previous 75 minutes.
The majority of the Munster squad may have grown up idolising the lads of 2006 and ‘08 but after two seasons in the European wilderness, Saturday’s victory over Thierry Dusautoir’s four-time champions have earned the right to step out from the shadows and stand tall as a team seeking to create a legacy of its own.
After more than a few false starts, the province has finally delivered Munster 2.0. It is difficult to imagine the burden young players feel as they are asked to wear the numbers of their childhood heroes but sometimes it takes an outside influence to engineer a break from the past.
There is a famous tale of Howard Wilkinson arriving at Leeds United in 1988 and finding a once-great club creaking under the pressure of the Don Revie era.
Coming from Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday he had no qualms about removing all the pictures of the past from the stadium walls.
Out went images of Bremner and Giles and before too long homegrown youngsters Batty and Speed were flourishing, winning the title in 1992.
Rassie Erasmus did not need to take such symbolic action when he arrived as director of rugby last summer, the players he had inherited from head coach Anthony Foley had already decided to take matters into their own hands and draw a line in the sand.
The past was the past and should be cherished, the heroes still lauded, as they were last Saturday night as Alan Quinlan and Ronan O’Gara visited the victorious dressing room, but this group of players, encouraged by the fresh voice of the incoming South African Erasmus, was intent on doing it their own way.
“It’s a big difference from three or four years ago, personnel-wise, coaching-wise and results-wise more importantly,” captain O’Mahony said after his side’s victory by four tries to one.
“It is a different group. With all that has gone on in the club with the trophies that have been won and the teams that have been there, the massive players that we have had, it’s nice tonight to have forged our own way a little bit.
“It’s based on our history and a huge amount goes back to our history but it’s nice for us to put our stamp on it.”
Munster’s rich history in Europe will never be jettisoned, the ties with the past run too deep, but as hooker Niall Scannell said on Saturday night, it is time for a new chapter.
“I was at the game in 2009 in Croke Park (against Leinster) and that was a huge occasion but we’re trying to distance ourselves a small bit from that,” Scannell (24) said.
“It’s brilliant to see guys like Alan Quinlan, and Rog was in the dressing room afterwards, it’s brilliant to see those guys reach out to us and still supporting us but we have to do things our own way. So we’ll probably be trying to distance ourselves from all that and just concentrate on what we have to do in the next game.
“I think we’ve been trying to do it for a few seasons but then, like that, you go and play a Heineken Cup game in Dublin and everyone’s asking you about the old games and we probably struggled a bit but it’s a different generation and there are not too many players left over from that era.
“And even guys like Keith Earls has just bought in so much to doing our way, it’s great to see guys like that, who it’s tougher for them because they’re crossing a generation.
“So it’s brilliant to see it but not without Rassie coming, you know, with a different view, a fresh voice has probably helped as well.
“When Axel first came in, Munster was what he knew as well and I think that’s been a nice, fresh voice and that’s probably helped but I think we’ve been trying to do it for a long while and it’s kind of coming good now and I think people are starting to notice it more.”
Scannell suggested the Munster way of doing things had been a part of the problem, that the players needed to better appreciate their achievements.
We talked about it last night (before the game), like, Irish people just aren’t arrogant by nature but we have to tell ourselves ‘we’ve earned this, we earned the quarter-final and we have to go and enjoy it’.
“Sometimes we find that hard in Munster because we’re so hard on each other around everything, trying to drive standards and I think we have to step back and say ‘we’ve earned this, it hasn’t been by fluke, we have to go out and enjoy it today’.
“So I think we’ve lifted that pressure off ourselves a small bit and Rassie’s helped in a massive way with that. He said ‘as long as the effort’s there today, win, lose or draw we can hold our heads up’.
“At times we’re maybe so hard on ourselves we don’t allow that to happen, so I think that’s been a massive change this year.
“So we’ll do the same for the semi-final, we’ll prepare like we have to and we’ll prepare for the next two Pro12 games as well and if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen but that’s the kind of approach we’re taking at the moment.”
S Zebo; D Sweetnam, J Taute (F Saili, 77), R Scannell, K Earls (A Conway, 56); T Bleyendaal, D Williams (A Lloyd, 77); D Kilcoyne (J Cronin, 58), N Scannell (R Marshall, 58), J Ryan (S Archer, 77); D Ryan, B Holland; P O’Mahony, capt (D O’Callaghan, 49), T O’Donnell, CJ Stander (J O’Donoghue, 65).
M Médard; Y Huget (A Bonneval, 69), F Fritz (L McAlister, 69), G Fickou, P Perez; J-M Doussain, S Bézy; C Baille (G Steenkamp, 58), L Ghiraldini (J Marchand, 49), C Johnston (D Aldegheri, 49); J Tekori (P Faasalele, 69), Y Maestri; T Dusautoir, capt (T Gray, 6-14 - blood), Y Camara, F Cros (T Gray, 75).
Cros, 2-12 mins
S Marques.
JP Doyle (RFU)
60 Second Report
Munster never trailed this contest but it was delicately poised right up to the 74th minute when Tyler Bleyendaal slotted his fourth penalty of the evening. Until then Toulouse had stayed in touch and were gathering serious momentum after wing Paul Perez scored a try in the 55th minute, converted by Jean-Marc Doussain to narrow the score to 24-16.
It made for a nervous 15 minutes after that until Toulouse went offside at a ruck and from the edge of the 22, the Munster fly-half restored the lead to 11 points, effectively ending French resistance with six minutes to go. Time enough to two more tries.
Another proud European occasion at Thomond Park as Munster reached the Champions Cup semi-finals in their first return to the knockout rounds in three seasons, blowing Toulouse away in a manner that echoed their 47-23 win over the French giants in 2014. That time the victory sent them to France for a semi against the mighty Toulon in their own back yard in Marseille.
This time they will wait for the outcome of Sunday’s quarter between Saracens and Glasgow.
If the Scots stage an upset it will be off to Murrayfield but if all goes to form, then a win for defending champions Sarries will hand Munster a home-country semi-final at Aviva Stadium on April 22 or 23.
As well as Duncan Williams performed, there was a standout performance from try-scoring forward John Ryan, the tighthead prop, who put in a phenomenal shift in the loose to earn the man of the match award.
Irish-born, English-affiliated referee JP Doyle had a busy day, sin-binning Toulouse No.8 Francois Cros in the second minute for a late and high hit on Duncan Williams, but he otherwise frustrated Munster throughout, ignoring home dominance at the scrum, disallowing a home try for a debatable Tommy O’Donnell knock-on and ignoring what seemed a clear-cut forward pass for Toulouse’s 55th minute try.
Toulouse were also forced to make a change just before kick-off when Scotland lock Richie Gray failed to finish the warm-up. Munster were dealt further blows when they lost a trio of Ireland stars in the second half.
Captain Peter O’Mahony limped off in the 50th minute with what looked like a thigh problem, followed by Keith Earls six minutes later and 10 minutes after that CJ Stander hobbled off, his right ankle already heavily strapped from earlier treatment.
With a semi-final place booked in three weeks, Munster return to their chase for a Guinness Pro12 home semi-final when Glasgow Warriors visit Cork next Saturday night (7:35pm). With four more rounds of the regular season to play, second-placed Munster are on course for the play-offs, lying 10 points clear of fifth-placed Scarlets.
A top-two finish, though, is the main objective, and Rassie Erasmus’s side lie two points behind leaders Leinster, are four points clear of Ospreys in third.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
