PRO14 final player ratings - Munster wilt as Leinster pack hold all the aces
The Leinster team celebrate as Guinness PRO14 Champions
This will be an incredibly difficult result for Munster to take purely because there is no obvious solution to prevent Leinster from continuing on their win streak in this derby.
There would be no fairytale finish, for now, for Stander and Holland in a game where the scoreboard flattered Munster in the end and, worse of all, where they will feel they didn’t fire a shot. Leinster seemed almost apologetic at the end and the real concern for Munster was how easy Leinster had it for most of this contest.
Leinster will go on with real confidence. Munster will now enter a period of real questions after another underwhelming performance on the big occasion.
A decent outing for Haley but he struggled to stretch his legs on transition and was unable to impact the game with his kicking.
Conway was unable to impact the game in the air and, as a result, he drifted in and out of the contest.
In a game where Munster didn’t have much meaningful possession, it’s quite difficult for your midfield to impact the game positively but, saying that I thought Farrell looked pretty decent on the whole without ever really impacting the game.
Munster’s World Cup winner was unable to impact the game in a meaningful way.
Earls was unable to impact the game in a meaningful way and had his worst game for some time.
Maybe it was too much of a big ask to expect Joey Carbery to dominate this game after two games in what amounts to two years. Either way, he didn’t really get into the contest on a day where Munster didn’t have much of anything in the way of go-forward ball.
Murray will ship a lot of the blame for this loss but, as usual, the blame lies in the forwards ahead of him as a collective. His kicking wasn’t to the usual standard, however, which was a big dent in Munster’s aims.
There would be no fairytale ending in the tournament where Stander made his first big impressions for Munster. He looked a little tired.
Munster will have worries over their captain’s injury status after he limped off in the aftermath of Leinster’s killer try.
Coombes was the standout performer for Munster in a day where very little went right. He won turnovers, got over the gainline, and impacted Leinster in the collisions.
This was not the “Tadhg Beirne performance” that we had become used to over the last few weeks. Beirne was unable to impact the defensive breakdown as he had been for Ireland and he struggled to impose himself on the ball.
Kleyn had a few big spills in possession but I actually think he acquitted himself quite well on a day where Munster struggled to impose themselves physically.
A good pro who looked a little overmatched in some of the tight collisions even though he scrummaged quite well.
- I thought Scannell looked pretty decent, for the most part, but struggled to impose himself physically.
Like the rest of the front row, decent for the most part but looked underpowered in the general exchanges.
Munster needed oomph off the bench and didn’t get it.
A very solid performance from Keenan. Assured. Calm. Barely stressed.
Not his biggest game from a fireworks perspective but he’s so good in transition and avoided his usual issues under the high ball. Good stuff.
He had a few issues passing into touch but coped pretty well with what Munster threw at him.
Henshaw is one of the best midfielders in Europe and he showed it again here. Relentless quality.
He’s one of the most underrated wingers going. You’d wonder why on days like this. Superb work under the high ball and excellent, rock-solid basics.
Byrne doesn’t do a whole lot wrong. He’s comfortable in every facet of what he’s asked to do and ran a smooth game for Leinster for the guts of 80 minutes.
He looked like the top performer on the field wearing a #9 jersey. He showed up for Leinster when it counted.
Really powerful running, impactful defence and a proper tough attitude. One of Leinster’s standout guys.
Constant workrate and near-boundless energy. Sometimes it looked like there were two of him.
Ruddock showed why he’s got such a big push behind him receiving more international caps here with a tough, brutal performance in and around the collisions.
A performance that was exactly what it needed to be from one of the most experienced guys out there.
The biggest compliment you can give to Toner is that he doesn’t look like a guy with 260+ caps for Leinster. This was a really strong performance in every facet of his game.
Porter has been a consistent game-winner for Leinster against Munster over the last few years because he brings a consistent physicality that Munster have constantly failed to live with. It was the same here.
He’s athletic, he’s powerful and while he’s still a work in progress on his set-piece, he’s got the athleticism to buy him all the time he needs. Quality.
Healy isn’t the rampaging ball carrier that he was in his younger days but he’s every bit as good in helping others win big collisions on big days like this.
Leinster’s bench gave them the reliable power boost they would have schemed for pre-game and will be really pleased with how they ran out.
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