Munster keep European hopes alive despite defeat to Exeter
Munster's Shane Daly scores a try in their 13-8 defeat to Exeter Chiefs. The second leg of their last 16 tie is at Thomond Park next Saturday
Munster will have a five-point deficit to make up when they return to Thomond Park next Saturday as they turned in a dogged defensive performance to deny 2020 European champions Exeter a runaway win in Devon.
Exeter dominated this Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 first leg but had only two first-half tries and a second-half drop goal from Stuart Hogg to show for their efforts while Munster hit back with a Ben Healy penalty and a Shane Daly try to keep this contest poised with the final score here effectively a half-time state of affairs going into next weekend’s second leg in Limerick.
For all Exeter’s superior play, they lost two men to the sin bin midway through the second half, when Daly scored his side’s only try, and then saw Olly Woodburn denied by a try-saving tackle from Keith Earls, holding his opposite number up over the tryline in the dying minutes.
Munster had lost another big-name player ahead of kick off when Simon Zebo was ruled out due to illness, adding his name to list of absentee internationals, with captain Peter O’Mahony, Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway, Gavin Coombes and Dave Kilcoyne all missing out through injury.
Both Zebo and replacement hooker Diarmuid Barron were withdrawn due to acute gastroenteritis with Shane Daly and academy front-rower Scott Buckley filling in.
Though Daly settled in quickly on the left wing and caused problems throughout, Munster had other issues as Exeter got off to an ideal start, full-back Stuart Hogg scoring the opening try after just six minutes. It came from a free-kick after the Munster pack closed the gap at a lineout, the Chiefs catching the visitors flat-footed as left wing Tom O’Flaherty came off his touchline and burst out of midfield to feed Hogg who raced into the right corner to score. Fly-half Joe Simmonds missed the conversion but Exeter continued to dominate proceedings through a powerful scrum and Munster’s high error count.
The Reds could not get into a rhythm as they repeatedly conceded knock-ons and penalties that saw French referee Pierre Brousset penalise them nine times in the first 40 minutes. Munster eventually tried the official’s patience one time too many and back-rower Jack O’Sullivan was sent to the sin bin when he erred on 37 minutes having replaced No.8 Alex Kendellen for a Head Injury Assessment nine minutes earlier.
It proved costly as outnumbered Munster failed to keep the Chiefs at bay, their resistance finally cracking one more just before the interval as the home side went through the phases inside the five-metre line and flanker Jacques Vermeulen crashed over. Simmonds just missed his conversion but his side were 10-0 to the good at half-time with a man advantage for the first seven minutes of the second half.
They managed to keep Exeter scoreless in that period just after half-time but it continued to be one-way traffic as Munster strained every sinew to withstand relentless pressure inside their own half. The clock was edging towards 53 minutes before Munster managed to break the stranglehold and escape into Exeter territory. A rare penalty in their favour allowed Ben Healy to kick to touch on the home 22 but once again Munster’s accuracy let them down when it mattered most and the lineout was lost. Another penalty brought a similar opportunity from just inside the Exeter half and Healy gained some distance with the kick to put his pack eight metres from the home tryline. This time the lineout stuck, Munster went through the phases and eked a penalty in front of the posts, meat and drink for Healy to get his team on the scoreboard at 10-3 after 57 minutes.
Munster’s fortunes took another turn for the better when Exeter started to fall foul of the referee, Brousset yellow carding two Chiefs players in as many minutes around the hour mark, wing Olly Woodburn and replacement prop Patrick Schickerling leaving the home side with 13 men for 10 minutes.
Munster made it count with a try from Shane Daly on 67 minutes and then, with urgency, took the ball back to the Exeter line. Woodburn returned to add to the home rearguard and the extra man helped to drive Munster back to stir the Chiefs’ supporters. Their team responded and when Brousset’s arm stretched out it was for an Exeter scrum.
The two-legged nature of this contest made every point worth fighting for and no-one fought harder than Keith Earls on 77 minutes to deny opposite number Woodburn a try by holding him up in the in-goal area. Play returned to an Exeter scrum penalty near the left touchline but instead of taking a shot at goal, the Chiefs went for broke and kicked to the corner, only to be denied once again by some last-ditch defending from Munster as the clock turned 80. It could prove crucial with the tie going back to Thomond Park next Saturday and Exeter protecting a fragile five-point lead. It could be the best loss Munster ever had.
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