URC: Bulls 34 Munster 31
The personnel may have changed over the years but there must have been something distinctly familiar when Munster’s players and management gathered in their hotel last Sunday night to assess their latest conundrum and plot a path to success.
Their 45-0 loss to Sharks last Saturday, which came within a point of their worst-ever hammering, made it eight defeats in a dozen games for the province. With a tough run to the end of the URC, the ultimate disaster of failing to qualify for the Champions Cup for the first time ever started to come into view.
In difficult times in the past Munster could always count on support from home, but by Tuesday morning the mood music had become even more alarming with news of financial cutbacks and jobs losses.
Leinster Schools thriller + Munster's concerning financials
Just why it was necessary to air such perilous news when the team was thousands of miles away recovering from a drubbing is a mystery, but it served to pile pressure on an already fragile squad.
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The Bulls, on an upward curve after a poor start to the campaign, sensed blood but in the end resorted to kicking to the posts with penalties to ensure a win against a Munster side who were full value for their two bonus points, even if they rarely looked like they would secure the win.
Clayton McMillan and his men will take a lot of positives from this performance which was full of heart and effort in difficult conditions.
The 29-degree heat meant there were cool-down breaks at the end of each quarter, with the players using ice packs and umbrellas on a sweltering afternoon in Pretoria.
Both sides were guilty of sloppy handling in the opening half but Munster, with returning halfbacks Jack Crowley and Craig Casey giving them a base, were much improved from the Sharks defeat.
Yet they still found themselves 14-7 adrift at the break as the Bulls, with an edge in the scrums, made the most of what they created.
Munster deservedly hit the front at the end of the opening quarter with Alex Nankivell cracking a hole in the Bulls defence and from the recycle Brian Gleeson, Crowley and the impressive Alex Kendellen combined to send Sean O’Brien through down the left, with Crowley adding the conversion.
Munster lost Calvin Nash to a head injury after a collision with Willie le Roux’s back as they contested a high ball. JJ Hanrahan came on at fullback with Ben O’Connor switching to the right wing.
The Bulls hit back on the half-hour, scrumhalf Embrose Papier stepping inside Tom Ahern from a maul in midfield and he had the pace to evade O’Connor and skip past Hanrahan to score under the posts.
Bulls lock Ruan Nortje was then binned for a head-on-head tackle which forced hooker Diarmuid Barron to go off eight minutes from the interval, but it was the home side who struck three minutes later when Gleeson lost possession in midfield and was punished when Stedman Gans fed Canan Moodie for another converted try.
Munster hit back a minute after the restart when Ahern got in for the first of his tries after Kendellen and half-time replacement Seán Edogbo made ground.
But then they coughed up another try from deep for Papier, with Pollard’s conversion making it 21-12 after 46 minutes.
Munster dug in and Ahern got his second try after they got the drive from a lineout after 52 minutes.
Junior Springbok Cheswell Jooste came off the bench and made an immediate impact when he broke from halfway to score a superb try. Pollard converted and then landed a penalty from distance to push the lead out to 31-19 going into the final quarter.
But Munster rallied again, Crowley leading the way. The outhalf sent O’Connor through for an excellent try with 13 minutes left, the conversion making it 31-26.
Pollard again opted for the posts from distance to extend the hosts’ lead to eight points seven minutes from full-time.
Edwin Edogbo, lining out for Munster alongside his brother Seán for the first time, managed to make the line five minutes from the end to secure the second bonus point, but that was as close as they got as the Bulls closed out the win.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 20 mins: O’Brien try, Crowley con 0-7; 30: Papier try, Pollard con 7-7; 35: Moodie try, Pollard con 14-7; Half-time: 14-7; 41: Ahern try 14-12; 46: Papier try, con 21-12; 52: Ahern try, Crowley con 21-19; 61: Pollard pen 31-19; 67: O’Connor try, Crowley con 31-26; 73: Pollard pen 34-26; 75: E Edogbo try 34-31
BULLS: W le Roux; C Moodie, S Gans, H Vorster, K Arendse; H Pollard, E Papier; G Steenekamp, J Grobbelaar, F Klopper; R Vermaak, R Nortje; M Coetzee (capt), E Louw, N Carr. Replacements: M van Staden for Grobbelaar, J Wessels for Steenekamp, C Hanekom for Louw, K Mchunu for Klopper (all 50 mins), C Wiese for Carr, C Jooste for Moodie (both 57), D Kriel for Vorster (66), Z Burger for Papier (74).
MUNSTER: B O’Connor; C Nash, D Kelly, A Nankivell, S O’Brien; J Crowley, C Casey; (capt); M Milne, D Barron, M Ala’alatoa; J Kleyn, F Wycherley; T Ahern, A Kendellen, B Gleeson. Replacements: JJ Hanrahan for Nash (24 mins), N Scannell for Barron (33), Sean Edogbo for Gleeson (h-t), J Loughman for Milne, J Ryan for Ala’alatoa (both 48), J Hodnett for Kendellen (59), E Edogbo for Kleyn (62).
Referee: H Davidson (SCO).
