RUGBY: AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP QUARTER-FINAL: Munster 42 CA Brive 37:MADNESS UNDER a scorching sun. Nine tries sprinkled over a ridiculously undulating contest that ended with jangling nerves despite Munster holding a 19-point lead with 12 minutes remaining.
But they got the job done, and the 2011 campaign can be dramatically reinvigorated by defeating Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins at Thomond Park on April 30th (kick-off 1pm). Michael Cheika’s Stade Francais face yet another old Munster foe, Clermont Auvergne, in the other semi-final.
The Friday night decider in Cardiff could yet have a Heineken Cup final feel to it. All told, it was a masterstroke by the ERC to funnel teams who failed to qualify from their pool into the Amlin Challenge Cup.
That Munster produced almost blemish-free counter-attacking rugby that they have heretofore struggled to cobble together made it an even sweeter victory.
The back three of Keith Earls, Doug Howlett and Felix Jones ripped Brive asunder, with a hand in all five tries. “Our back three were excellent today,” said Denis Leamy. “So much pace and guile and their finishing.”
It was more All Blacks than Munster and vastly superior to the incoherent Ireland backlines’ inter-linking during the Six Nations.
Right out the gate, O’Gara exposed the deep-lying Brive wingers by ignoring the option to kick, instead engineering situations where Munster speedsters were gliding past cumbersome Brive forwards.
“It’s a confidence builder,” said Howlett. “We can play both styles. We have a tight game and an expansive game. There are things we’ve got to tidy up. Our defence, at times, let us down.”
French teams, especially at home, must be broken before they unload their bench for the last-quarter assault. Otherwise, the pitch-side band increases its racket, the crowd attain a state of delirium and the players respond by flooding through with a rapid off-loading game that becomes impossible to contain.
Yet this unplanned European odyssey looked to be over when Fabrice Estebanez rode Lifeimi Mafi’s high hit (the Tongan was lucky to escape a sin-binning for an earlier tackle on Alexis Palisson that enraged the locals), brushed O’Gara aside and stepped Jones to thunder over for a try that reversed Munster’s dream start.
Mathieu Belie’s conversion made it 17-12, wiping out fabulous tries by Howlett and Earls. Brive looked poised to run riot. But English referee Dave Pearson, as agreed pre-match, halted matters for a water break. It was a lifesaver.
When play resumed Brive’s maul attempted to further sap the Munster eight’s energy levels, but flanker, Gerhard Vosloo, peeled into open country only to fumble possession. Earls reacted quickest, scooping up the ball, sprinting over halfway before putting Jones in the clear. With only one man to beat the fullback threw a slightly airy, left-handed pass that forced Howlett to check his run, but it wasn’t bad enough to deny one of Munster’s great European tries.
Brive were visibly rattled. This was not the Munster they had prepared for. Two men, in particular, made immense contributions.
Leamy looks fitter than he has done for two years. James Coughlan’s tackling was equally fierce, but it was the Cashel man’s largely hidden work in slowing down Brive possession, by any means, that was most admirable, while Earls has elevated his game.
The deep-rooted problem for Munster, however, remains their scrum. They have already addressed it by signing BJ Botha from Ulster, but it may yet hinder their quest for silverware.
The Georgian beast Davit Khinchagishvili’s mincing of Tony Buckley early in the second half led to a 70-metre turnaround, and a try was only denied by a textbook tackle, release and turnover by Sam Tuitupou on Palisson.
Donncha O’Callaghan went too high on the smaller French winger moments later to allow Belie make it 23-19.
There followed another break by Howlett to send Earls flying over in the left corner. O’Gara’s touchline conversion was important, making it 26-23 to Munster.
Brive coach Ugo Mola reacted by changing his entire frontrow on 49 minutes. Most of his tactical decisions back-fired.
Marcus Horan made an impressive impact and John Hayes also arrived for the last quarter as their presence eventually nullified a clear Brive advantage.
The Munster lineout also malfunctioned at times.
Yet it was a moment of sporting suicide by fullback Scott Spedding that presented Munster with the contest’s pivotal try on 50 minutes. Peter Stringer pounced on Spedding’s inability to gather possession, deftly toe-poking the ball over Palisson and showing excellent composure to gather and touch down.
O’Gara’s conversion made it 33-23, and two ruthlessly struck penalties seemed to have sorted matters, while Jones made a fantastic overhead “mark” despite the presence of number eight Julien Le Devedec on his own try line.
But Brive refused to die. Palisson raced clear from 40 metres after intercepting a Niall Ronan pass, and then Shaun Perry charged over for a try as Belie’s rushed conversion made it a five-point game with 20 seconds remaining. The end came when Claassens was adjudged to have knocked on – he didn’t – as Brive mustered a valiant last gasp assault.
Surprisingly, the locals instinctive reaction was to rise to their feet and serenade the gladiators from the field. Some sight.
SCORING SEQUENCE– 1 min: Howlett try, O'Gara conv, 7-0; 5: Earls try, 12-0; 12: Belie pen, 12-3; 19: Uys try, Belie conv, 12-10; 23: Estebanez try, Belie conv, 12-17; 27: Howlett try, O'Gara conv, 19-17; 39: Belie pen, 19-20. half-time. 44: Belie pen, 19-23; 46: Earls try, O'Gara conv, 26-23; 50: Stringer try, O'Gara conv, 33-23; 54: O'Gara pen, 36-23; 65: O'Gara pen, 39-23; 68: O'Gara pen, 42-23; 69: Palisson try, Belie conv, 42-30; 79: Perry try, Belie conv, 42-37.
BRIVE:S Spedding; G Namy, J Noon, F Estebanez, A Palisson; M Belie, A Figuerola; D Kinchagishvili, B Cabello, P Cardinali; T Dubarry, R Uys; G Vosloo, A Claassen (capt), J Le Devedec. Replacements: R Lespinas for Namy (12 mins), V Kakovin for Kinchagishvili, JP Bonrepaux for Cabello, P Barnard for Cardinali (all 49 mins), A Mela for Dubarry (51 mins), S Azoulai for Le Devedec (61 mins), S Perry for Estebanez (72 mins).
MUNSTER:F Jones; D Howlett, L Mafi, S Tuitupou, K Earls; R O'Gara (capt), C Murray; W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll; D Leamy, D Wallace, J Coughlan. Replacements: P Stringer for Murray (49 mins), J Murphy for Tuitupou, M Horan for du Preez (both 53 mins), M Sherry for Varley (56 mins), J Hayes for Buckley (59 mins), D Ryan for Coughlan (60 mins), N Ronan for Wallace (67 mins).
Referee: D Pearson (England).
