Munster bow out of URC race in cruel fashion as Sharks edge penalty shoot-out
Tadhg Beirne (C) of Munster. Pic: Steve Haag Sports/Steve Haag/Inpho
Veteran Munster back Rory Scannell missed an angled penalty kick from the right-hand side of the field in a dramatic shootout that proved the smallest margin between victory and defeat.
It was the first penalty shootout in United Rugby Championship (URC) history, and it added to a dramatic contest that started slowly but boiled up to a wonderful crescendo.
The Sharks will now travel to Pretoria to face the Bulls at Loftus in the URC semi-final next week. Leinster will host defending champions Glasgow in Dublin.
After 100 minutes of energy and commitment, it came down to a penalty shootout after finishing 24-24. And Munster fell just short.
Shootout kicks were taken from the 22-metre line, centre, right and left and then repeated from the 10-metre line.
Sharks replacement back Bradley Davids, who only took the field in the 98th minute, kicked the Sharks’ sixth straight penalty from the left-hand side from 40 metres out.Â
It broke Munster hearts, as not only does it mark the end of their season, Davids' kick meant the end of the careers of Peter O'Mahony, Stephen Archer, David Kilcoyne, and the Munster career of Murray.
Earlier, departing legend Murray’s nerveless, 45-metre penalty with 90 seconds of normal time remaining sent this error-strewn, but at times entertaining URC quarter-final, into extra time.
Much of the first half had been torturous to watch because of the error count. The second half was hard to watch because it was so tense. Both teams improved as the contest matured.
Murray’s kick levelled the score at 24-24 in a game that started with an odd lack of intensity but gradually built into a full-blooded slug fest.
The Sharks were particularly passive in the opening quarter, yet by the time the match went into extra-time, Munster were having to tackle missiles in black jerseys.
In extra-time, with each side having scored three tries, the possibility of a penalty shoot-out became increasingly probable.Â
The scores remained locked at 24-24 after the first period of extra time with the home team carrying all the momentum. Only the belligerent Munster defence kept the 2023 champions in the contest.
The men in red stayed in the game thanks to their defence, as their scrum was dismantled by a Sharks team whose replacement front rowers Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Hanro Jacobs picked up where their illustrious Bok starters – Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch had left off.
It was one tough night for the Munster pack, and they never stopped scrapping.
Munster had some defending to do in the first half of normal time, and the reality was that they never looked stressed as they kept the home team comfortably subdued.
The Sharks might have a player roster littered with Springbok World Cup winners, but often when they are clad in black, their performances have been funereal. It was that way for much of the first half before things improved.
Munster scored the only points of the half with a well-constructed 10th minute try for wing Calvin Nash that had its genesis from a scrum just inside the Munster half.
Scrumhalf Craig Casey, who was excellent throughout, stabbed a grubber through from the set piece inside half that set up good field position. From the lineout and several phases of play later, Jack Crowley poked a wonderful kick through for Nash to run on to and he did the rest.
From then, one unsuccessful Crowley penalty attempt aside, the game meandered aimlessly until the half hour mark. It was littered with handling errors and poor options – mostly from the home team – which was in keeping with their recent form.
But after the half hour mark the Sharks finally began to string some phases together, mildly stressing the Munster defence.
Wings Ethan Hooker and Makazole Mapimpi enjoyed some moments, with half line-breaks, if such a stat is collected, but largely Munster coped comfortably.
The half ended with the Sharks gaining momentum – an ominous portent because they carried it into the opening exchanges of the second period.
Hooker scored for the Sharks barely six minutes into the second stanza, after a multiple-phase build-up that climaxed with a slick offload by flank Vincent Tshituka.
The home side then hit the front with a Jaden Hendrikse penalty in the 54th minute.
It sparked Munster to life after the flat period and they stunned the Sharks with two tries in the space of four minutes to reassert themselves on the game.
Replacement prop Josh Wycherley smashed over from close range after a good build-up and clever pass by Casey, which Crowley converted.
Minutes later, Mike Haley’s speculative kick through led to a try for wing Diarmuid Kilgallen as Mapimpi slipped when coming across to cover the threat.
It was desperately unlucky for the Bok stalwart, but a reward for smart tactical play and Kilgallen’s alertness and opportunism, as he kicked ahead and grounded the ball smartly.
The Sharks, though were not done. Fullback Aphelele Fassi ran a hard, angled line onto a fine pass from Jaden Hendrikse from a five-metre scrum with Munster under severe pressure in the set piece.
The Sharks then powered ahead on the scoreboard when replacement hooker Fez Mbatha finished from a Sharks lineout and midfield surge by giant centre Andre Esterhuizen to nudge the Sharks ahead before Murray stepped up to cue drama.
Tries: Ethan Hooker, Aphelele Fassi, Fez Mbatha. Conversions: Jaden Hendrikse (3). Penalties: Jaden Hendrikse.
Tries: Calvin Nash, Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Kilgallen. Conversions: Jack Crowley (3). Penalties: Conor Murray.
22m-(Middle) Jaden Hendrikse, (Right) Jordan Hendrikse, (Left) Bradley Davids.
22m-(Middle) Jack Crowley, (Right) Rory Scannell (x), (Left) Conor Murray.
40m-Jaden Hendrikse, Jordan Hendrikse, Bradley Davids.
40m-Jack Crowley, Rory Scannell.
Aphelele Fassi; Ethan Hooker, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi; Jordan Hendrikse, Jaden Hendrikse; Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch; Eben Etzebeth (capt), Jason Jenkins; James Venter, Vincent Tshituka, Siya Kolisi.
Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Hanro Jacobs, Emile van Heerden, Phepsi Buthelezi, Bradley Davids, Francois Venter, Yaw Penxe.
Thaakir Abrahams; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Tom Ahern, Alex Kendellen, Conor Murray, Rory Scannell, Mike Haley.
Mike Adamson
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