Munster’s match-winning drive a microcosm of their progress as epic encounter gets fitting end

Leinster 15 Munster 16

Back on St Stephen’s Day in Thomond Park, Leinster led Munster by one point entering the last two minutes but it may as well have been 10. They kicked a penalty to the corner, pinning the home side down. The Munster pack held up the drive to win a turnover scrum and Craig Casey turned to the crowd and punched the air.

Jordan Larmour put his hand on Casey’s neck, probably saying something along the lines of ‘best of luck going 95 metres up the pitch’. Sure enough Munster didn’t and Leinster saw out a one-point win.

Entering the last five minutes on Saturday, Leinster led this epic contest by two points and attacked off a lineout. Gavin Coombes engineered a turnover with his cantilever arms but Leinster came again, only for Thomas Clarkson to slightly over-run Nick McCarthy’s pass and knock-on.

There were four minutes left when Keith Earls passed the loose ball infield to the ubiquitous Shane Daly, whose roving role off the wing epitomises new Munster. A metre from his own line he half-stepped Harry Byrne and passed infield to the outstanding John Hodnett.

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Even closer to his line, Hodnett stepped Jack Conan and, tackled by John McKee, offloaded to Rory Scannell. He stepped Conan, veered away from Josh van der Flier and passed to Hodnett, back on his feet and scampering to the 22. Harem-scarem stuff.

After a kicking exchange between Casey and Nick McCarthy, Crowley countered to inside halfway. Seven recycles later, with virtually every Munster player handling at some point, and almost three minutes after daringly running the ball from their own line, Crowley took Casey’s pass and stroked his drop goal above the charging Ryan Baird in classic Cork Con/Munster No 10 mode.

A couple of minutes later Casey was kicking the ball dead and punching the air. It was a fitting climax to an unrelenting game. As the physicality and intensity kept increasing, the two tribes of supporters became more animated. Yet most of all the skill levels remained extraordinarily high until some last-quarter fatigue. Even the neutral John Barclay described it as the URC match of the season by some distance.

Prolonged passages of ball in play, pivotal moments, controversial moments, a 12-5 penalty count against Leinster – it had it all and more. Like two boxers they’d taken turns to pin each other against the ropes, sometimes with reward, often not, with Leinster repelling countless assaults, until going toe to toe in the final round.

Munster carried hard, probed with variation, be it tip-ons, pull-backs, switches or offloads (20 times to three), turned down shots at goal and left chances behind against a monumental Leinster defence – 224 tackles made, only 22 missed. Leinster also shifted up the gears for tries by Jason Jenkins, laid on brilliantly by Robbie Henshaw, and Joe McCarthy.

The only superior game at the Aviva this season was between the top Test sides in the world last February. Considering six of the Irish side in the Grand Slam coronation were among the 45 players involved here, this was some advert for Irish rugby.

Class delivered – ie Henshaw, Van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne and Peter O’Mahony. But so too did the veterans, Dave Kearney and Keith Earls, the ever-reliable likes of Max Deegan and Coombes, and the younger guard, typified by two gifted outhalves in Byrne and Crowley.

Ultimately though, not only were Munster incapable of engineering that pitch-length drive last December, in all likelihood they’d have been unable to do so in the last few years. It was as good as any try they’ve scored this season, and like the build-up to Beirne’s try, evidence of their ambition and execution; always looking to keep the ball alive, backs and forwards interlinking.

“We have to be brave,” said Graham Rowntree. “I want us to be brave when you are chasing the game like that – that’s how we train. I back the guys to make the right decisions. That was the right decision. Obviously.”

Asked what pleased him most: “The outcome! No, it took some patience there. Good game control by the halfbacks on the field. It can get careless when you’re trying to run the clock down like that. You get a lot of referees who penalise you for sealing off.

“But our detail was really good there and Jack pulled the trigger just at the right time under pressure. That’s some skill that is. I’d hate to have to do that for a living! But he practises that most days, so I was delighted with the outcome.”

After another URC semi-final defeat, a bitterly disappointed Leo Cullen said Leinster would review their selection as well as their performance. “Selection is a big piece, isn’t it? Over the course of the season, it’s got us to this stage and nearly got us over the line today. Just not quite good enough, unfortunately.”

Munster’s performance did not surprise him.

“No, we’re seeing lots of similar traits to what we see in ourselves now, how they work off the ball in terms of their attack, their defensive system is pretty similar. Watching Leams [Denis Leamy] in the warm-up, it’s quite similar. There’s lots of things there. They play very different from the traditional Munster of old, I guess.

“Fair play to them, in terms of how they evolve their game all the time. From where they were earlier in the season, they’ve got to a final now – back to South Africa. We wish them well in the final.”

SCORING SEQUENCE – 2 mins: Byrne pen 3-0; 11: Healy pen 3-3; 24: Healy pen 3-6; 38: Jenkins try, Byrne con 10-6; (half-time 10-6); 46: Beirne try, Crowley con 10-13; 63: McCarthy try 15-13; 78: Crowley drop goal 15-16.

LEINSTER: Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Robbie Henshaw, Charlie Ngatai, Dave Kearney; Harry Byrne, Luke McGrath (capt); Michael Milne, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Ala’alatoa; Ryan Baird, Jason Jenkins; Max Deegan, Will Connors, Jack Conan.

Replacements: Josh van der Flier for Connors (2 mins), Ciarán Frawley for J O’Brien (h-t), Cian Healy for Milne (48), Joe McCarthy for Jenkins (61), John McKee for Kelleher (65), Nick McCarthy for McGrath (68), Thomas Clarkson for Ala’alatoa (71), Liam Turner for Ngatai (79).

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Keith Earls, Antoine Frisch, Jack Crowley, Shane Daly; Ben Healy, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (capt), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Rory Scannell for Healy (32 mins), Fineen Wycherley for Kleyn (46), Niall Scannell for Barron, Josh Wycherley for Loughman, Roman Salanoa for Archer, Jack O’Donoghue for O’Mahony (all 52), Alex Kendellen for Beirne (71),

Not used: Neil Cronin.

Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU).