HEINEKEN CUP POOL THREE Munster 45 Toulon 18:SOMETIMES HARD work alone will not suffice as Munster discovered in their two previous matches, but when combined with ruthless precision it can prove an irresistible cocktail of endeavour supplemented by largely high-grade execution.
It underpinned a victory that was as emphatic as the final scoreline suggests on an afternoon when the Irish province reaffirmed their hunger for Heineken Cup fare.
The pace, intensity, vision and work ethic they demonstrated, allied to the more mundane if no less important virtues of an excellent set-piece, enabled the home side to dominate a contest that began in inauspicious circumstances when they conceded a try after just 58 seconds.
Toulon were gifted the perfect start, one that should never have been permitted on the basis of a blatant forward pass. Munster coach Tony McGahan described it succinctly as “a kick in the hole”.
His charges didn’t blanche, responding in typically forthright fashion. The French side arrived at Thomond Park with the best defensive record in the French Top 14 Championship and departed having conceded six tries.
Their personable coach Phillipe Saint-André might seek mitigation in the fact they played 20 minutes of the match with 14 players, losing first George Smith and then Felipe Contepomi to the sin bin during which they conceded three tries and also lost four backs to injury; a litany of misfortune that eventually saw Smith forced to fill in at centre for the final 30 minutes or so.
Saint-André admitted: “It’s tough to come here, but even more so when you get two yellow cards. We played 14 against 15 for 20 minutes of the match and had four backs injured during the game. But I want to congratulate Munster.
“They showed character, were well organised, well drilled and played the game with urgency and with a great tempo. Munster were clever, identified our weakness and punished us. They deserved to win today, but maybe the score was a bit heavy.”
The yellow cards were induced by pressure and desperation, Smith walking for cumulative team transgressions while Contepomi’s off-the-ball bear hug on the supporting Doug Howlett was spotted by referee Wayne Barnes.
The French side were perhaps fortunate he spotted that offence before Smith’s obstruction of Keith Earls in the same move that could have pre-empted a second yellow and therefore a red card for the Australian flanker.
Munster exploited the numerical discrepancy to telling effect, helping themselves to 21 points. Their victory was based on a fine collective display augmented by several outstanding individual contributions.
Mick O’Driscoll ran the lineout with a calm efficiency that guaranteed a lucrative supply of possession, but his work around the pitch was equally laudable, his try a well-merited reward.
The scrum was solid, the front five industrious, particularly the excellent Damien Varley in all facets of the game.
Denis Leamy was the standout player in a fine effort from the backrow.
Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara ran the game with an intelligence assurance, the scrumhalf back to his livewire best with and without the ball while O’Gara kicked quite beautifully and when opportune brought his three-quarter line into play. He used the full expanse of the pitch and mixed the patterns judiciously.
Johne Murphy started at fullback, played in both centre positions and but for gilding his dive to the corner produced another high-quality performance.
The backline ran well, particularly Howlett, whose industry, desire and cutting edge allowed him to grab a brace of tries. Denis Hurley’s thumping tackle on Jean-Philippe Genevois underlined Munster’s aggression without the ball.
McGahan admitted: “We’ve been there or thereabouts. We were disappointed with some of the options we took but the biggest thing going for us today was the pressure we applied, through set-piece, field position and controlling the ball.
“At different stages against Leinster and London Irish we had both of that, but today we really put that together and played for longer stretches of the game to make sure it counted. We finished off which we hadn’t been doing.”
Munster conceded a try on 58 seconds, Contepomi’s well disguised pass to the brilliant Joe van Niekerk coupled with some soft shoulders allowed the South African to put Genevois over for a try.
By the interval, though, Munster had a commanding 21-10 lead through tries from Leamy, Tony Buckley and Howlett and O’Gara’s rhythmic boot.
The second half yielded further tries to O’Driscoll, Howlett again and replacement James Coughlan with van Niekerk responding for the visitors. The only downside for the home team, the apparent recurrence of a calf injury that has blighted Jerry Flannery’s career in recent times: he departed 24 minutes after coming on for Varley.
McGahan admitted: “I haven’t talked to him. He’s pretty upset at this stage, but we’ll have to wait and see. It’s certainly unfortunate if it is (a recurrence of the old injury) because he has worked so hard to get back.”
The challenge for Munster will be to maintain the momentum from Saturday’s performance through the next couple of weeks in the Magners League.
In adversity, missing several front-line players including their captain Paul O’Connell, they have rediscovered not alone that cussedness but a quality of performance. They’ve coped with the pressure and responded positively.
McGahan explained: “That’s the difference being inside the environment (squad). It’s never as bad as it seems and it’s never as good as it seems. We certainly recognised that a loss today, while not completely putting us out of the picture, would have meant things were out of our control.
“That result puts us where we can control things. That’s what you want at the end of round two (in Europe). With the back-to-back weekends, you judge yourself after each block of two weeks. We’ll do that, we’ll assess it and we’re happy where we are.”
They’ve earned the right to be.
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