Penalty kick heartbreak for Munster in Champions Cup epic
Munster's Ben Healy reacts after his side lost on a goal-kicking shootout after the Heineken Champions Cup quarter final match at Aviva Stadium
Munster’s European dream ended in devastating fashion after a penalty-kick contest decided this gripping Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Defending champions Toulouse edged the shootout to progress to the last four and a meeting with either Leicester or Leinster next Saturday. Three tries apiece in a pulsating 80 minutes of regular time had sent the game into extra time that had failed to separate the sides. Which sent the game into a six-kick decider, Toulouse holding their nerve as Ben Healy, twice, and Conor Murray missed after four rounds.
Munster’s supporters had turned the Dublin stadium into a sea of red with the majority of the 40,476 in attendance travelling up from all four corners of the southern province to give the team their deafening backing as Peter O’Mahony led their traditional post-warm-up half lap run to the dressing room.
The lift it gave them clearly carried into the opening stages as Munster started brightly and got off to an ideal start as they wrong-footed the champions from an attacking lineout, not going route one via the expected maul route but sending Jack O’Donoghue off into midfield with a strong carry from which Munster powered towards the line and Alex Kendellen, the academy back-rower playing at openside flanker, touched down for the opening try on nine minutes, Carbery converting for an early 7-0 lead.
It did not last long at all, Toulouse striking back to level terms within three minutes as they regained their restart kick-off and full-back Thomas Ramos broke from midfield into the Munster 22. The ball was quickly recycled and though Romain Ntamack failed to hold onto Antoine Dupont’s pass, the ball fell backwards and the France fly-half regathered and stole over close to the posts to give Ramos a simple conversion to level the scores.
It almost never happens in rugby...
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) May 7, 2022
Munster and Toulouse locked at 24-24 after 80 minutes plus extra time, it all came down to a 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻!
Incredible drama 😱#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/gRhvBK47uJ
It was just the thing Ugo Mola’s side needed to quieten the crowd and they grew from there, the power of their giant pack repeatedly getting over the gainline to give the Grand Slam-winning half-backs an armchair ride as the pressure ramped up on Munster.
That pressure was also coming through a dominant scrum and having conceded two penalties at the set-piece, Toulouse struck from a further penalty advantage as the Munster defence was sucked in at the posts to leave right wing Matthis Lebel unattended in his corner to run in a second try after 26 minutes, Ramos converting from close to the right touchline.
The five-time winners were in the ascendancy but unable to add to their tally and Munster took advantage, though not before Carbery missed a 34th minute penalty. Munster may have been outmuscled but they stuck to their task and from an attacking lineout on the left and a strong carry from Damian de Allende they got to the Toulouse line, this time the French defenders dragged towards the posts before Carbery sent a long pass out to the right for Keith Earls to score with the ease Lebel had done in the opposite corner.
Carbery’s touchline conversion levelled the scores once more and Munster went in at 14-14 for the half-time interval.
With Toulouse able to unload a heavyweight bench packed with seven internationals, the onus was on Munster to keep the scoreboard ticking over as quickly as possible before legs began to tire in the Dublin sun but though Carbery missed a long-range penalty on 42, the men in red more than compensated, Mike Haley finishing an electric break from midfield to send his side into a 19-14 lead, Carbery’s conversion making it a seven-point lead at 21-14 with 44 minutes gone.
With the home crowd fully engaged and cheering every small victory as if it was a try, Munster were energised in defence as Toulouse went looking to get back on terms, and a ruck penalty inside their 22 lifted the pressure to a huge roar.
There were cries of anger when Rory Arnold took out Simon Zebo late after the wing had cleared up a Toulouse kick deep into the 22, the giant lock lucky to escape with a yellow card having tipped the Munster hero onto his back.
It was a gift for Munster, denying Toulouse their biggest lineout threat for 10 minutes in addition to reducing their scrummaging power and leaving the Reds with a man advantage.
Munster had the wind in their sails, and were even levelling the playing field when both front rows were replaced, launching off a scrum outside the 22 to send de Allende into midfield on the charge, his dummy pass to centre partner Chris Farrell deceiving opposing centre Pierre Fouyssac into a tackle off the ball. It gave Carbery a simple shot at goal and the successful penalty sent Munster into a 24-14 lead with 24 minutes remaining.
A scrum penalty won by John Ryan against France’s starting loosehead Cyril Baille was a further sign of Munster’s growing confidence but Toulouse are a championship side and Munster were defending for their lives and successfully so, twice in succession turnover possession on their five-metre line around the hour mark.
Toulouse boss Mola needed a spark and the introduction of Baptiste Germain at scrum-half sent Dupont to fly-half and Ntamack into the centre as Fouyssac made way at the same time O’Mahony was forced off on 64 minutes, replaced in the back row by European debutant Jack Daly.
Toulouse, though, quickly reaped rewards, Lebel striking again to finish a slick move on 67 minutes off a Pierre Mauvaka pass, Ramos’s conversion closing the deficit to 24-21.
It made for an incredibly tense final phase of the game, Munster desperately defending inside their 22 and forcing Toulouse into errors, the Aviva erupting into another roar when the ball was knocked on after 73 minutes, swiftly followed by a rousing rendition of the Fields of Athenry, punctured emphatically by a redemptive penalty for the French side.
Ramos’s penalty bisected the posts to level the game with five minutes remaining as Munster looked to replacement fly-half Ben Healy to conjure a response, Carbery moving to full-back as Haley limped off.
Inevitably, it came down to a kick at the end of 80 minutes, Munster winning a ruck penalty inside their own half, and Healy happy to take on the monster kick with time up. It was a brave effort but marginally short and wide and Luke Pearce blew for full time to set up two 10-minute halves of extra time.
If the final 10 minutes of regular time had been tense, extra time was no different, the first 10 minutes a game of cat and mouse, neither side willing to throw the dice and risk a mistake that could be capitalised on by their opponent and both teams summoning their last levels of energy. Zebo was struggling with cramp, Toulouse looked collectively out on their feet and when the second half of extra time kicked off, Munster looked the stronger, fitter outfit, puncing on a loose ball from a disrupted French maul to win a penalty inside their own half.
From the resulting lineout Munster won a scrum in front of the Toulouse posts, 15 metres out but the champions eked out another penalty to relieve the pressure.
The dreaded penalty shootout was looming as Zebo took an accidental knock to the head from Pita Akhi, the required Head Injury Assessment allowing Conor Murray back on as an an HIA replacement.
Both side had tried to seal it with drop goal attempts, both Healy and Ramos missing their shots at glory but Munster earned another chance with less than two minutes remaining with a penalty kicked down the line. Munster mauled off the lineout, Healy dropped back into the pocket and sent his drop goal kick high into the air but agonisingly wide and referee Pearce sent the game into a shootout.
Both sides had excellent kickers on the pitch but this was about pressure and after Murray and Dupont had dispatched theirs from in front of the posts, the unfortunate Healy missed from 15 metres in from the right touchline as Ramos sent his over.
That put the pressure on Carbery from the left side, 15 metres in, and his successful kick was matched by Natamack. Into round two, Murray and Dupont from the 10-metre line, the French star putting his side in the driving seat after the Irish scrum-half missed.
Healy was next, kicking from the right side on the 10-metre line and his miss sent Toulouse through. It was an agonising way to decide a match but Toulouse live to fight another day with a place in the semi-final.
M Haley (B Healy, 72); K Earls, C Farrell, D de Allende, S Zebo (C Murray, 97); J Carbery, C Murray (C Casey, 59); J Wycherley (J Loughman, 54), N Scannell (D Barron, 54), S Archer (J Ryan, 51); J Kleyn (J Jenkins, 59), F Wycherley (T Ahern, 71); P O’Mahony – captain (J Daly, 64), A Kendellen, J O’Donoghue.
T Ramos; D Delibes (M Médard, 47, P Fouyssac, 72), P Fouyssac (B Germain, 64), P Ahki, M Lebel; R Ntamack, A Dupont; R Neti (C Baille, 46), J Marchand – captain (P Mauvaka, 46), D Aldegheri (D Ainu'u, 51); Rory Arnold, E Meafou (S Tolofua, 63) ; R Elstadt (A Jelonch, 46), T Flament (J Tekori, 63), F Cros.
card: R Arnold 50-60
Luke Pearce (England)
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