Keith Earls reflects on his hardest ever Munster game

OVERCOME: Jack Crowley and Keith Earls of Munster embrace after their side's victory in the United Rugby Championship semi-final at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

A little more than a week ago Keith Earls had thought his season was over and he had possibly played his 200th and final game for his beloved Munster.

Yet the tears he cried at the full-time whistle of his team’s victory over Leinster were of joy, not regret. The 35-year-old Ireland wing had got through 80 minutes for the first time in a stop-start, injury-hit season of frustration and contributed wholeheartedly to an epic win, having overcome the belief the groin injury sustained on tour in South Africa last month had left his campaign in tatters.