'You cannot script every game': A different side of Munster but another win in URC

A visiting Stormers outfit came to play with pace, power and a willingness to offload at will

Mon, 04 Oct, 2021 - 06:00

Simon Lewis

They got the job done eventually but a week on from all the bells and whistles of Munster’s expansive opening-night win over the Sharks, this was a very different type of victory at Thomond Park on Saturday night.

They all count, of course, and the United Rugby Championship league table will report two wins from two games, each coming with a try bonus point attached and there is little to sniff at about that.

Yet 30 minutes in against a visiting Stormers outfit that came to play with pace, power and a willingness to offload at will, Munster’s supporters were wondering where the adventure they had seen seven days earlier had gone as the scoreboard made for disturbing reading at 15-0 down.

“I’d much prefer 15-0 up (after 30 minutes) than 15-0 down but that is what makes rugby beautiful, you cannot script every game," Munster boss Johann van Graan said afterwards. "It takes its own momentum and character. That is what helps when you play at home, the crowd got behind us, and that is what is special about Munster rugby.”

Against the Sharks in round one, they had come sharply out of the blocks, got early points on the board and never looked threatened by a South African side missing a significant Springbok contingent. It made for a celebratory night in Limerick as wing Simon Zebo ran in the first and sixth tries that book-ended a 42-17 win.

A week on and in cooler conditions that pre-empted heavy rain late in the game, Munster needed to find another way to do business and that meant a more prominent role for the forwards.

They had begun by losing collisions and having no answer to the slick, offloading of a fluent Capetonian backline as Springbok full-back Warrick Gelant and wing Leolin Zas opened up the Munster defence with tries on eight and 20 minutes. There was another fright when Manie Libbock slid towards the posts only for a TMO review to show he had lost control of the ball at the line with Peter O’Mahony also scooping his hands under it at the critical moment to prevent a try.

It was the let-off at 15-0 that shook Munster into action. The home side started winning collisions and gaining territory and when the excellent Jack O’Donoghue struck from close-range just before half-time, Johann van Graan’s side had found its formula to go on and win the game.

By the 56th minute they were 24-15 in front with flanker O’Donoghue adding his second after early second-half scores from pack-mates Jean Kleyn and Niall Scannell and the bonus point had been secured, just five minutes later than it had come against the Sharks. Same outcome, very different method.

There was still time for Snyman to make his entrance and claim his first try for the province in his third appearance. It showcased just what Munster had missed out on in the World Cup winner’s debut season lost to the knee injury suffered on debut in August 2020.

It took just 33 minutes of game time for the Springbok to make his mark on the scoreboard. His score off a lineout won by O’Mahony five metres out saw the 6ft 9ins lock pivot out of contact and stretch out a giant paw to plant the ball came 19 months after that ill-fated seven-minute debut.

It was an emphatic way to complete a victory borne of forward power, eventually. Head coach van Graan praised his side’s composure to climb back into the contest after that sluggish start and made no apologies for the five tries coming from forwards.

“We adapted tonight to what the opposition gave us,” van Graan said. “They came with a big rush defence; they didn’t give us any space beyond the 15s. They boxed us in and then they played with their wings high. They hit us and they dominated the breakdown. So we needed to adapt at half-time and that’s the sign of a good team, one that can adapt.

“From a coaching point of view, we are very happy that the team did that. You take the cards that have been dealt you on the night. So, we are certainly not going to moan about (forwards) scoring four tries in the second half. It is about balance. We tried to play at the start of the game but the opposition hit us backwards and we made mistakes, so we had to adapt and I am pretty happy with that.”