Munster coach Rowntree laments ‘hugely disappointing’ defeat to Sharks

Sharks 50 Munster 35

There’s no need to drill down to any depth to determine the core elements of Munster’s defeat. The analysis will be as straightforward as it is painful. When everything else is stripped away Munster should realise that this was a Heineken Champions Cup tie there for the taking if they could have managed to get out of their own way for long enough.

Breakdown deficiencies, ill-discipline and an occasionally misfiring set piece ultimately proved insurmountable obstacles in a general sense but particularly in the third quarter of the match. The Sharks scored four tries in an 18-minute staccato burst of scoring after the interval that effectively decided the outcome.

What will be galling for Graham Rowntree, his coaching group and the Munster players, is that the home side didn’t have to work hard to rack up those 26 points, the visitors condensed a glut of errors, many basic, into a narrow timeframe. It soothed any doubts for the home side, who must have been slightly concerned at half-time with their slender 17-14 advantage.

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When that points flurry subsided Munster were staring at a shellacking, but to their credit, and with a pronounced impact from the bench, they scored three of the last four tries. Even that, though, was maddening because it reinforced that with a modicum of precision and care they were able to pick apart the home side’s brittle blitz defence.

Rowntree acknowledged: “Technically, tactically, we’ve got to be better. We’ll go back and look at that third quarter of the game because things got away from us straight after the two maul tries. [We’re] hugely disappointed, as you’d imagine.

“Three-point game at half-time, then quickly got away from us, the game got even looser as we’re chasing. The team can score tries, we’ve proven that, but I’ve just said to the lads there now, we’re back down here in three weeks. We’ve got a taste of what it is to come to this club and this town, and we’ll go back and analyse this game and see where we can do better.

“We’re a tight group, a tight group. We will get back to Limerick, lick our wounds, pull the game apart and look at the things we can be better at because we’ve got to move forward. We are back down here in the URC; we’ve got to learn from it and move forward.” There’ll be no shortage of material.

It wasn’t all gloom and doom, though. Calvin Nash had a brilliant game in attack, Jack Crowley largely justified his selection, and even when he did throw in the odd mistake, he didn’t retreat or become introverted in style or substance. John Hodnett, Dave Kilcoyne and Shane Daly were conspicuously effective while Jean Kleyn worked diligently.

Antoine Frisch ran some good lines, as did Mike Haley but without a consistent platform from which to launch, individuals started to override the system as they chased the game. A lack of composure in execution and decision-making represented a pebble in the shoe in performance terms.

RG Snyman, captain Peter O’Mahony, Craig Casey and Gavin Coombes were all gone before the third quarter had elapsed, Niall Scannell too as Rowntree looked to his bench. The reinforcements did provide dynamism, especially, the Wycherley brothers and Jack O’Donoghue in the loose while Conor Murray brought more attuned direction.

It enabled Munster to finish with a flourish but that will have done little to assuage the general air of disappointment. The initial throes of the contest held promise, Munster conceding just a penalty to Curwin Bosch despite having to defend for the first six minutes and then the visitors had the temerity to score the game’s first try.

Crowley, Frisch and Coombes combined to put Daly away 35 metres from the Sharks’ line. The west Cork man had plenty to do but accomplished it with aplomb, racing clear and then stepping inside the covering defence.

Daly proved the facilitator for his team’s second try, Munster again working him into space. The patience and precision with which the visitors made progress around the fringes of a succession of rucks was impressive. Eventually Kilcoyne spotted a couple of backs defending the short side and powered under a couple of flailing arms.

In between those tries the Sharks grabbed a brace, the first for scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, injured in the process, following a fine break by Makazole Mapimpi, the second for Eben Etzebeth – he didn’t reappear for the second half – to give the home side a 17-14 interval lead.

It’s reasonable to think that Munster’s half-time chat would have centred on ways to address the breakdown issues, be better discipline wise and just cut down on the errors. What ensued gave lie to the suggestion that any such material was discussed.

Munster conceded a penalty at a ruck, and then two lineout maul offences in quick succession – the penalty count was 8-1 against at this point – within three minutes of the restart. The upshot was a brace of maul tries for Sharks hooker Bongi Mbonambi, one of which Bosch converted to make it 29-14 after 48 minutes.

The Sharks trio of Werner Kok, Bosch and Mapimpi, and Munster’s Diarmuid Barron, Haley and Fineen Wycherley indulged in a tit-for-tat try-scoring exchange, the visitors scoring three of the last four.

Munster will return to Durban later this month, this time in the URC, and there’ll arguably be more at stake than Saturday’s game. They must absorb the lessons because it is an eminently winnable fixture.

Scoring sequence

4 mins: Bosch penalty, 3-0; 5: Daly try, Crowley conversion, 3-7; 15: Hendrikse try, Bosch conversion, 10-7; 24: Etzebeth try, Bosch conversion, 17-7; 31: Kilcoyne try, Crowley conversion, 17-14. Halftime: 17-14. 44: Mbonambi try, Bosch conversion, 24-14; 48: Mbonambi try, 29-14; 52: Kok try, Bosch conversion, 36-14; 57: Bosch try, Bosch conversion, 43-14; 60: Barron try, Crowley conversion, 43-21; 63: Mapimpi try, Bosch conversion, 50-21; 68: Haley try, Crowley conversion, 50-28; 77: F Wycherley try, Crowley conversion, 50-35.

Sharks: B Chamberlain; W Kok, L Am, R Janse van Rensburg, M Mapimpi; C Bosch, J Hendrikse; O Nché, B Mbonambi, T du Toit; E Etzebeth, G Grobler; S Kolisi (capt), V Tshituka, S Notshe. Replacements: G Williams for Hendrikse 17 mins; E van Heerden for Etzebeth halftime; P Buthelezi for van Heerden 48 mins; K van Vuuren for Mbonambi 58 mins; C Sadie for du Toit 58 mins; N Mchunu for Nché 58 mins; B Tapuai for van Rensburg 62 mins; T Abrahams for Chamberlain 69 mins.

Munster: M Haley; C Nash, A Frisch, M Fekitoa, S Daly; J Crowley, C Casey; D Kilcoyne, N Scannell, R Salanoa; J Kleyn, RG Snyman; P O’Mahony (capt), J Hodnett, G Coombes. Replacements: S Archer for Salanoa 18 mins; F Wycherley for Snyman 48 mins; C Murray for Casey 48 mins; D Barron for Scannell 51 mins; J O’Donoghue for O’Mahony 54 mins; A Kendellen for Coombes 55 mins; J Wycherley for Kilcoyne 58 mins; J Carbery for Daly 72 mins.

Referee: W Barnes (England)