URC: Munster 21 Stormers 27
Munster got to live the phrase, ‘biter being bitten’ at Thomond Park on Saturday night. On several occasions in this season’s United Rugby Championship, Clayton McMillan’s team has demonstrated a flinty resolve in adversity in finding a precipitous path to victory. This time they discovered what a turnabout looks like.
At half-time it wasn’t a consideration, the Irish province led 21-6 through tries from captain Tadhg Beirne, replacement flanker John Hodnett – Jack O’Donoghue failed a HIA after copping an accidental knee to the head – and Jack Crowley, all three converted by the outhalf.
Munster had played with a lovely attacking fluency at times, using the width and canny running lines to punch holes as they ripped through the Stormers defensive line. During that period, the visitors lost secondrow Connor Evans and flanker Marcel Theunissen to yellow cards and conceded 21 points when short-handed.
The pick of Munster’s tries came on 28 minutes. Tom Farrell surged through a gap on a lovely cutback line, Craig Casey accepted the pass and raced upfield, Gavin Coombes took play to within a few metres of the Stormers’ line and from a quick ruck, Crowley surged over.
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Fineen Wycherley and Tom Ahern had nicked the odd lineout and were prominent around the pitch, so too John Ryan, Hodnett and Coombes. Ruck ball was quick, Casey kept tempo on the game, Crowley and Farrell kept shape on the attack, while the Stormers’ defence found Thaakir Abrahams and Diarmuid Kilgallen difficult to corral.
The only salutary concern was a scrum that haemorrhaged penalties, demanding that Munster keep handling errors to a minimum, a remit with which they ultimately failed to comply. It was a slow unravelling, one that started with a bold decision from Stormers head coach John Dobson, who replaced six of his starting pack in one fell swoop four minutes after the interval.
It didn’t have an immediate effect on the scoreboard, but it did impact the general ebb and flow, allowing the visitors to wrangle more possession and territory. Munster’s scrum issues continued.
Jean Kleyn, on duty with the Springboks, was missed, and while Edwin Edogbo’s arrival from the bench gave his side some of the ballast they were missing, he, along with the starting and replacement frontrows could only periodically mitigate that set-piece damage. The only respite was when the Stormers occasionally jumped the gun on the engagement.
The South African side were missing their two first-choice props but the four they had on duty weren’t found wanting. The visitors were without backline totems, Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse on duty in Cardiff, but their way back into the game was predicated on the pack.
On 58 minutes Munster suffered a double whammy, conceding a try to Adré Smith, converted by Jurie Matthee, and a yellow card for Coombes for a silly attempted foot trip. Over-eagerness at the scrum cost the Stormers good field position soon after, while Farrell’s game management and footballing skills ensured a little respite with a well-placed kick.
However, the visitors got a deserved second try, Matthee’s beautifully weighted crosskick was caught by right wing Dylan Maart who won the race to the tryline. The Stormers’ outhalf tagged on a super conversion to make it 21-20 with a little over 10 minutes remaining.
Thomond Park was stunned into silence three minutes later. Crowley laid off a pass out the back for a wraparound move in midfield, but Stormers centre Ruhan Nel read his intention, intercepted and raced 55 metres to score under the posts.
Matthee converted to push the South African side out to a 27-21 lead but Munster’s unbeaten run this season has been underpinned by tenacity from time to time. That character trait surfaced once again when Casey’s gorgeous crosskick picked out Farrell, loitering on a wing, and the centre raced over for a try.
However, after Crowley had kicked a brilliant conversion, the TMO, Matteo Lipperini, called the referee’s attention to a knock-on by the Munster outhalf in the build-up.
As they chased redemption another Munster handling error and an umpteenth scrum penalty gave the Stormers a lineout two metres inside the home side’s half from where they ran down the clock for a remarkable win. The South African side’s fourth win on the road leaves them as the only unbeaten team in the tournament.
McMillan said: “In that first half I thought we probably played some of our best rugby, but we forced passes [and] we missed opportunities to create. And then in the last 10 minutes [of the half] we lost our way a little bit and never regathered it after that.
“We want a little bit more from ourselves, but also, they put a huge amount of pressure on us, and we weren’t good enough to find a way out of it. Whilst they brought something to the table, we also let ourselves down, so that’s disappointing, but we learn, we grow, we move forward.”
It was a first competitive defeat for Munster since the New Zealander took over in the summer but there is no time to wallow, nor should they once the lessons are absorbed, as they travel to Bath next Saturday for the opening fixture of the Champions Cup and a reunion with a familiar face in Johann van Graan.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 5 mins: Matthee pen, 0-3; 7: Beirne try, Crowley con, 7-3; 11: Matthee pen, 7-6; 19: Hodnett try, Crowley con, 14-6; 28: Crowley try, Crowley con, 21-6. Half-time: 21-6. 58: Smith try, Matthee con, 21-13; 68: Maart try, Matthee con, 21-20; 71: Nel try, Matthee con, 21-27.
MUNSTER: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Tom Ahern, Fineen Wycherley; Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O’Donoghue, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: John Hodnett for O’Donoghue (HIA, 10 mins); Niall Scannell for Barron, Michael Milne for Loughman (both 54); Edwin Edogbo for Wycherley (58); Ronan Foxe for Ryan, Dan Kelly for Nankivell (both 61).
Yellow card: Gavin Coombes (58 mins).
STORMERS: Warrick Gelant; Dylan Maart, Wandisile Simelane, Ruhan Nel, Leolin Zas; Jurie Matthee, Stefan Ungerer; Vernon Matongo, André-Hugo Venter, Neethling Fouché; Salmaan Moerat (capt), Connor Evans; Paul de Villiers, Marcel Theunissen, Evan Roos
Replacements: JJ Kotzé for Venter, Oli Kebble for Matongo, Sazi Sandi for Fouché, Adré Smith for Moerat, JD Schickerling for Evans, Ruan Ackermann for Theunissen (all 44 mins); Dewaldt Duvenage for Ungerer (59).
Yellow cards: Connor Evans (2 mins); Marcel Theunissen (19).
Referee: A Piardi (Italy).
