Munster 13 Toulouse 18 (Ft) - as it happened

Munster 13 Toulouse 18

Here is Gerry Thornley’s report from Thomond Park. Thanks for joining us today, tune in next week for more live coverage of the provinces’ Champions Cup campaign.

[ Powerful Toulouse hold on in the fog to see off Munster at Thomond Park ]

You’re only as good as your defensive maul or your attacking maul, that’s what broke us at the end of the day.

—  Graham Rowntree's thoughts after Munster's defeat

Here was one of those occasions Munster let the ball squirt out the back of a ruck. From inside Toulouse’s 22 chasing the game, Munster cough up possession and all of a sudden find themselves giving away a penalty back down the other end of the pitch. A key moment in the game.

Jack Wilis also deserves a lot of praise, the way he came off the bench and disrupted Munster’s breakdown time and again could well have dragged his team over the line.

It was a very bad mistake but I’m happy it didn’t cost my team

—  Antoine Dupont on his yellow card in the dying stages

Toulouse are good value for their win. Sometimes it’s easy to give Antoine Dupont the player of the match award but he was fantastic, absolutely everywhere in defence while his kicking game pinned Munster inside their own half for so long.

As for Munster, three times in the last 15 minutes the coughed up the ball at the back of the ruck. Toulouse deserve credit for disrupting, but their inability to look after their own ball proved costly.

Full-time: Munster 13 Toulouse 18

Once again, Munster fail to look after the ball as it squirts out of a breakdown. Toulouse hold onto the ball for the final 30 seconds before booting it off the park.

79 minutes: Jack O’Donoghue pilfers the lineout at the front! Munster will have one last attack but they’ll have to go the length of the park.

78 mins: Penalty Toulouse! It’s sloppy on the floor from Munster. They can’t secure the ball on the deck, meaning it hits Patterson’s foot before Frisch picks it up in an offside position. Ntamack kicks into the 22 as Toulouse look to kill off the remaining time.

77 mins: Dupont could be in trouble here. He’s slapped down an attempted Frisch pass when Munster had men on the overlap. Ridley says penalty only. He’s asked his TMO to double check it...

YELLOW CARD! Antoine Dupont will play no further part in this game. Munster had numbers on the outside, meaning the slap down cost a line break.

75 mins: Carbery adds the three points from inside the 22. Five minutes left, Munster are within five points.

75 mins: Munster are inside the 22. Patterson is taken out off the ball, meaning the penalty is there once O’Mahony’s attempted tip to Coombes goes into touch. Time for Munster to make a decision, take the 3 and they’ll have a losing bonus point with still time to win the game. The tee is on and Munster will kick it.

72 mins: Ramos slots the penalty. Munster have it all to do now.

70 mins: Munster are putting plenty of phases together here. It’s brutal stuff, every collision a battle but Toulouse’s ability to withstand is relentless. Munster end up losing it as the ball comes out of the ruck via a boot. Ramos clears, chases his kick and gets in over the ball with O’Donoghue isolated in front of his own posts.

A huge roar goes up as Keith Earls comes on, only his second Munster appearance this season.

As things stand, this Tauzin effort is the difference between the sides.

66 mins: Crooked throw from Barron, it was thrown to O’Mahony’s outside arm. Another needless error from Munster.

65 mins: A rare mistake from Ramos. He tries a banana kick, an attempt to slice it right into the corner but he’s put it out on the full. Munster lineout up back up on halfway.

64 mins: Up goes another Dupont high bomb. Haley goes up right on the 22, he doesn’t get it cleanly but he ends up with the ball on the deck. Munster clear and Ntamack glides his way through a tackle to run back up to the 22. Ramos grubbers into the corner and Carbery and then Daly do brilliantly to break and bail Munster out of trouble.

63 mins: Dupont again puts the pressure on Munster’s backfield with a high ball. Carbery comes from deep to gather but spills with Beirne making contact with his own man in the air.

62 mins: Ramos misses a penalty for Toulouse. Barron gave away the chance for side entry at a maul but Ramos’ effort comes up short. Strange, it was from out wide but definitely within his range.

59 mins: For the first time today, Haley is found wanting under the high ball as he knocks on. Big test for this new Munster front row and they give away a free-kick for falling into the scrum. Toulouse kick in behind and Nash retreats well to gather. Patterson boxes clear, finding a good touch up on the 10m line.

57 mins: Missed drop-goal! Ntamack out of nowhere decides to drop back and have a pop at the sticks. He slices it badly wide. Now Munster change their front to, Wycherley, Barron and Salanoa enter.

56 mins: Tadhg Beirne, of all people, clears with the boot out of the 22. A hark back to his Eadestown GAA days. Toulouse have a lineout bang on the Munster 22.

54 mins: Thomond Park is furious. They want the holding on call with Coombes looking for the ball but he’s not supporting his body weight so Ridley gives the decision to Toulouse. Meanwhile the French side changes their entire front row: Mauvaka, Baille and Faumuina all coming in. Talk about impact...

53 mins: Dupont misses a high ball completely in the fog but Ramos is there to mop up. Frisch then drops the ball in midfield and he’s lucky Delibes didn’t gather that and run under the sticks, Haley doing enough to haul him down. It’s been a tough day out for Frisch.

Munster make another change, Kleyn goes, O’Donoghue is into the backrow as Coombes moves into lock.

Big calls made by Munster. Patterson is on at 9 for Casey, jack Crowley is on at inside centre for Scannell.

51 mins: To make matters worse, Toulouse get the penalty at the scrum as Loughman pulls it down. Toulouse now have the upper hand at the maul, breakdown and scrum.

50 mins: It’s a real arm-wrestle at the breakdown for the ball. Toulouse counter-ruck with players on their feet and once the ball doesn’t come out, Ridley gives them the scrum.

48 mins: Scrum Toulouse! They hold the ball up legally in the maul and earn the relieving scrum. So many bodies in there, it’s impossible to see in the fog who does what but it looks like it could well have been Jelonch in their disrupting.

46 mins: Munster’s maul goes nowhere before Placines hauls Casey to deck at the back. Munster have to scrap to get this back but they do get an advantage. Frisch throws a terrible pass that hits the deck but play goes on. Coombes is tackled outside the 22 so we go back for the penalty. Not rolling away is the call, Carbery goes to the corner.

44 mins: Haley is taken out in the air and the crowd is not happy. Ridely immediately says penalty only, he says Placines’ line of sight was blocked so he gets away with it. Looks like the TMO might interfere... no he won’t! TMO Rowan Kitt agrees with penalty only. That could well be a controversial one. Anyway, play continues with Scannell using the left boot to ping the ball into the corner.

TRY TAUZIN!

42 mins: He’s only on the pitch barely a minute but Tauzin has scored. Marchand peels off the back of the maul 5m out, pops to Dupont who in turn pops to Tauzin who swings into position late. Munster punished for not putting numbers into their blind side defence. Ramos pulls his conversion wide.

41 mins: Back underway at Thomond. You honestly cannot see a thing in this fog. Munster make a change, Capuozzo has been forced off, Tauzin is on for him. Toulouse almost immediately go on the attack, Ramos kicking in behind. Frisch is tracking back and has no choice but to deflect the ball out of play metres from his own line. Big chance here.

Of course, there was this from Joey Carbery as Munster started well. An average enough maul to start with, but Casey injects plenty of tempo to pick off his runners before making the good decision to go down the blindside.

Here was that score from Lebel that levelled things. First of all, what a maul. Pure power and Munster had no answer. Granted it’s easier to make skills look good when the pressure is off under penalty advantage, but Akhi’s pull-back is excellent, as were Ntamack and Capuozzo’s passes under pressure before Ramos flings it wide for a super Lebel finish.

Watch Frisch shoot out of the line, he needs to get man and ball but he failed to do so.

It’s been an absorbing contest to say the least. Munster started brightly, only for Toulouse to clean up their discipline and use their power game. Their work at the breakdown has been good, selectively poaching to both slow the ball down and ensure numbers in the line to shut down Munster’s phase play.

When Munster have had quick ball and gotten Coombes et al running at a retreating line, they have looked good. Otherwise, they have struggled to make yards. Toulouse have only had one real entry into the 22 but made full use of it.

Half-time: Munster 10 Toulouse 10

Toulouse have scrappy, scrappy ball after Dupont is caught in possession and driven back. Ramos eventually has enough and kicks it off to take us to half-time.

39 mins: All square again. Carbery slots his effort from a central position 40m out.

38 mins: Munster get a penalty for not rolling away. It’s in a kickable position, they could do with three points here just to calm themselves down after a frantic few minutes. It was clever from Beirne to pin his man in their and ensure he was killing the ball.

36 mins: Another Munster error. Carbery goes with the front-door ball to Haley but he can’t hang on in contact. Slightly better in attack from Munster but they are having to work so hard for every inch. It’s either a battle at the breakdown or Toulouse are stocking their defensive line with plenty of big bodies.

35 mins: Carbery looks to grubber ahead. He hits a Toulouse body before it roles into touch. Lucky, as that was a poor connection with the kick.

34 mins: You can barely see anything through the fog in Thomond, but Akhi has knocked the ball on while trying to evade the choke tackle of Carbery and O’Mahony. Good defensive work from Munster.

32 mins: Munster continue to make errors in attack. Carbery is hit right on the line as he passes to Daly, it’s an excellent shot. Daly goes to ground but Munster are then pinged for diving in off their feet.

31 mins: Munster look to hit back as Haley steps his way through a number of tackles on kick return. The crowd is incensed as Jelonch comes around the side to take out Casey and force a spill, but referee Christophe Ridley is happy he was onside.

30 mins: No mistake from Ramos! Just out to the right, inside the 10m line, no worries for him.

29 mins: Kleyn gets isolated and Aldegheri gets in over the ball to win the penalty. Toulouse definitely have all the momentum now. Ramos calls for the tee.

28 mins: Toulouse continue to build momentum, Dupont taking a quick penalty to make some yards. The good work is undone when Ntamack sends a kick out on the full.

26 mins: Vintage Dupont. He picks quickly around a ruck, galloping into space where Munster had no pillar defender. He finds Ramos on the support after beating multiple defenders. Lebel is on the outside but Ramos flings his wide pass behind him and into the arms of Nash. Munster survive.

TRY MATHIS LEBEL!

23 mins: Toulouse finally come to the party. 20m out from the line their maul is brutal, pulverising Munster before it is hauled down illegally. Ntamack, Capuozzo and Ramos combine in the backline to find Lebel in space. Daly tries to get across to make life difficult but Lebel pulls out the acrobatic finish to dot down before being taken out of play. Ramos adds the extras from the touchline.

22 mins: Now Toulouse get an advantage at the scrum, Loughman the infringing party. They go wide but play comes back once the ball hits the deck. Ntamack kicks into the 22.

20 mins: A frustrating attack for Munster ends when Beirne’s attempted pop to Ryan drifts forward.

19 mins: Beirne is screaming for a penalty after looking for the ball on the deck but he doesn’t get it. Dupont and then Ramos kick forward, Carbery returns the favour. The kick-tennis ends when Haley tries to run it back but Dupont hauls him down before he can do any damage.

Here’s that early score from Carbery.

16 mins: Oh Kleyn would have had a half-break if he held on, it was a good decision from Scannell to skip one man to where the space was but his pass hits the deck.

15 mins: Toulouse get their exit right, Dupont clearing off a ruck, finding touch past the Toulouse 10m line.

14 mins: Carbery grubbers ahead for Scannell to chase but he has to hold up because he’s offside. Still, it works out well for Munster as it rolls into touch inside Toulouse’s 22.

12 mins: Dupont and Casey come together in a big collision. The Munster 9 comes off second best but then O’Mahony floods in to knock Dupont back. Ntamack slices a kick but Toulouse get it back, leading to more kicking. Casey eventually regathers and takes play over halfway.

11 mins: Carbery makes up for his early miss by converting from out wide.

TRY JOEY CARBERY

10 mins: Munster get the score their early possession warrants. The maul doesn’t make ground inside the 22 but Daly and then Coombes get up close to the line. Casey then hits Carbery with space down the short side as he dances over.

8 mins: Poor from Aldegheri. Munster weren’t going anywhere, running into a series of brick walls but he dives in off his feet to give away the penalty. This time, Carbery goes to the corner.

6 mins: Munster go to the backline on first phase and Haley chips into space. Lebel comes across for Toulouse but he spills it and has to work hard to not be turned over inside his own 22. That he does, allowing Dupont to clear. Munster lineout inside the 10m line.

5 mins: OFF THE POST! Carbery struck it well but it’s off the upright. Toulouse gather and clear. It was 15m in from touch and close to the 22, he should have gotten that one.

4 mins: Coombes pumps the leg for a big carry that takes play into the Toulouse half. Casey has to protect the ball himself and is nearly rucked out of it and Munster hold on. Good thing they did as seconds later Meafou fails to roll away, gifting Carbery an early shot at goal.

3 mins: PENALTY MUNSTER! Massive psychological boost for Munster. Toulouse will fancy themselves in the scrum but John Ryan has won the decision as the front rows come up.

2 mins: Dupont himself puts boot to ball after a handful of phases. Haley tries to get it but can’t, it falls into Capuozzo’s hands but it went forward off Ntamack. First scrum of the day for Munster.

1 mins: Here we go! Toulouse get things going through Romain Ntamack’s kick. Haley gathers for Munster inside his own 22. Casey puts boot to ball early, it doesn’t gain much ground as Toulouse get the ball close to the 22.

As there has been across the weekend, there’s a minute-long applause in memory of Doddie Weir ahead of kick-off.

It is baltic and foggy in Thomond. A good, cold Limerick day. Can’t help but think that will suit Munster.

Of course, somewhat controversially Antoine Dupont is free to play today after having his suspension for a red card on France duty cut in half. He’s alongside Romain Ntamack as ever, with Thomas Ramos at 15. Keep an eye out for Ange Capuozo, Italy’s livewire and World Rugby breakthrough player of the year on the wing.

Up front, as ever this is a monstrous back. Jelonch caused Ireland no end of headaches during last year’s six nations while Emanuel Meafou is a easily the biggest player on the pitch in the second row. The bench, though, is frightening. Mauvaka, Baille, Faumuina, Flament and Willis are all international-standard forwards that will influence the game to no end. If this is close heading into the final 20 minutes, you’d have to say Toulouse are favourites based on that alone.

Here’s today’s team news. Let’s start with Munster. No Conor Murray of course who is still out with a groin issue picked up while playing for Ireland against the Springboks. Craig Casey is at 9 with Joey Carbery outside him. No room for overseas signing Malakai Fekitoa, it’s Antoine Frisch and Rory Scannell in the centres instead.

Gavin Coombes has been in mixed form of late but he earns a start today alongside John Hodnett and Peter O’Mahony in the backrow. With those two and Tadhg Beirne in the same pack, the breakdown will be an absolute dogfight.

Munster have of course recovered from a difficult start to life under Graham Rowntree. As expected, one man who has been key to that revival is Tadhg Beirne. He was speaking to the media during the week ahead of this one.

[ Tadhg Beirne at one with Munster’s heart and soul ahead of European campaign ]

Full-time over in Sale and Ulster have been pummelled 39-0. With La Rochelle visiting Belfast next weekend, they look to have a mountain to climb to stay in this competition.

Of course, the revenge narrative of today’s clash centres around the last contest between these two. In the Aviva last season, Munster were knocked out at the quarter-final stage thanks to a dramatic penalty shootout defeat.

Here are Gerry Thornley’s thoughts ahead of today’s clash in Thomond Park.

Munster have found some timely momentum with three wins in a row. Haley’s return is the only change from last week’s starting line-up which recovered from a shaky start to produce their most impressive performance of the season in Edinburgh.

—  Rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley's thoughts ahead of kick-off

[ Munster out to avenge painful quarter-final defeat as Toulouse touch down at Thomond ]

While we are building up to Munster, it’s worth keeping one eye on Ulster who are in action over in Sale at the moment. It’s not good news for Dan McFarland’s side, they’re down 34-0 with 10 minutes to go.

Hello all and welcome to another afternoon of Champions Cup action! Nathan Johns here to guide you through all the action at Thomond Park. We’ll start building up to kick-off shortly, but for now feel free to get in touch on Twitter (@nathanrjohns) to let us know your pre-match thoughts.