Van Graan content to be in it to win it at Thomond
Exeter's Jonny Gray competes in the air at the lineout with Thomas Ahern of Munster
Johann van Graan insisted he was never happy to lose a game but the Munster boss could not help but be satisfied with the current status of this two-legged European knockout tie as his squad turned their attention towards this Saturday’s return fixture at Thomond Park.
Yes, Munster were defeated by the better side in Devon on Saturday evening, just as they had been seven days earlier at home to league rivals Leinster. Yet this was an altogether different losing performance in an altogether different set of circumstances.
Missing six internationals through injury and then one more to illness on the eve of the game with acute gastroenteritis also denying them the services of replacement hooker Diarmuid Barron in addition to Simon Zebo on the morning of the game, Munster had arrived in south-west England not only depleted but with serious question marks over their ability to compete with Heineken Champions Cup heavyweights following a serious 34-19 setback at the hands of their derby rivals the previous weekend.
Yet though they were beaten again, they left Sandy Park with confidence boosted, pride restored and a quiet sense of confidence that their European adventure was as alive and kicking as the team spirit head coach van Graan lauded following a rollercoaster Round of 16 first leg.
With this tie being decided on aggregate score, the full-time whistle in Exeter was effectively just the short blast for half time and the five-point deficit they will take back to Limerick this Saturday will not unduly concern the Irish province ahead of their own supporters at Thomond Park.
There was plenty of red at Sandy Park also, and the large body of travelling support were thrilled to see their team rally from 10-0 down and with a man in the sin-bin at half-time to close the gap to a manageable losing margin and deny an Exeter Chiefs side that in truth should have run away with this contest.
“You can’t win this tie in the first round but you can certainly lose it and we feel we’re very much in this game next week at Thomond Park,” van Graan said.
Asked if he would take 13-8 as a half-time score, he added: “Yeah, definitely. It’s a one-score game. We focused a lot on the history and what we know about Exeter. They’re a team that never goes away and we’re a team that never goes away.
“Our theme was we’re going to fight for 80 minutes, which I believe we did and then be in the game for next week. It’s half-time now and we’re five points down. It’s one try and we’ve got to get the conversion to win the game.
“A fascinating battle. I don’t know what happened in the other European games but if I look at the (Connacht-Leinster) game (on Friday) night we certainly learned a lot. That is, if you’re the losing side you have to be in it and we are in it.”
Munster had been outplayed and firmly on the back foot in the opening half having conceded tries to Stuart Hogg after just six minutes and Jacques Vermeulen on 38 minutes after replacement back-rower Jack O’Sullivan paid the price for an accumulation of penalties conceded by going to the sin-bin less than 10 minutes after replacing the head-knocked Alex Kendellen. Their scrum had also been in retreat and the error count was piling high to add to the concerns to be addressed at the interval, as BT Sport’s pictures of the visiting dressing room underlined with images of forwards coach Graham Rowntree reading the riot act to his players.
Yet Munster gradually found their way back into the contest, Ben Healy’s penalty on 57 minutes finally getting his side on the scoreboard, before a double whammy of yellow cards for the home side saw Olly Woodburn and then Patrick Schickerling binned on 59 and 60 minutes respectively.
Numerically mismatched, Exeter even stretched their lead to 13-3 when a Healy goal-line drop-out was kicked straight at Hogg, who delivered a long-range drop goal in immediate response on 65 minutes.
Munster did hit back, though, with the excellent Shane Daly, Zebo’s late replacement, capping a fine performance with a try on 67 minutes. But with Woodburn back on the field, Exeter also showed their character to dig deep and though Craig Casey, on for Conor Murray, did get over the line the scrum-half was denied a try by referee Pierre Brousset.
They would spend much of the closing 10 minutes successfully defending for their lives and van Graan expressed his gratitude for the effort.
“Last week’s defence wasn’t good enough from our side. We haven’t conceded four tries in two and a half years, so we were unhappy with that.
“The main thing from my side that I challenged our group was that we never give up. These guys fought until literally the ball was on the floor. The satisfying thing from a coaching point of view is that we stayed in the battle. This is a fun place to come to. The fact that we stayed in this game mentally is big for next week.”
The two-legged nature of this contest made every point worth fighting for and no one fought harder than Earls and Farrell on 77 minutes to deny opposite number Woodburn behind the Munster tryline, both racing across to the right corner, Earls tackling the Exeter wing and Farrell intervening to loosen the ball from his hands.
It left Woodburn shaking his head, rueing his luck, and Munster to move onto the final act of defiance as play returned to an Exeter scrum penalty near the left touchline. Instead of taking a shot at goal, the Chiefs stuck to their philosophy of kicking to the corner, only to be denied once again as the clock turned 80.
“The Munster spirit is alive and well,” van Graan declared. “It’s not the young guys, it is the whole group; young guys, old guys, Keith Earls making that tackle, Conor Murray and then you have guys like (John) Hodnett, (Alex) Kendellen, (Scott) Buckley, who learned two hours beforehand that he was going to be on the bench (instead of Barron) but didn’t get onto the pitch but just the next man up.
“We as a group are very tight. We have incredible home support that came here from home. The Munster support is incredible and we saw that again today. This is a club that will always stand up and fight.”
S Hogg; O Woodburn, H Slade, I Whitten (H Skinner, 68), T O’Flaherty; J Simmonds, S Maunder (J Maunder, 59); A Hepburn (B Moon, 55), J Yeandle – captain (J Innard, 65), H Williams (P Schickerling, 51); J Gray, S Skinner; D Ewers (J Kirsten, 57), J Vermuelen (R Capstick, 57), S Simmonds.
O Woodburn 59-69, P Schickerling 60-70 Replacement not used: J Hodge.
M Haley; K Earls, C Farrell, D de Allende, S Daly; B Healy, C Murray (C Casey, 63); J Loughman (J Wycherley, 63), N Scannell, S Archer (J Ryan, 48); J Kleyn (T Ahern, 64), F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue - captain, J Hodnett (J Jenkins, 73), A Kendellen (J O’Sullivan, 28 - HIA).
J O’Sullivan 37-47 Replacements not used: S Buckley, R Scannell
P Brousset (France)
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