Munster ease past Sale in underwhelming Champions Cup finish

The thousands of unoccupied seats and large gaps on the terraces brooked no argument about the status afforded this match by many Munster supporters. It wasn't an unreasonable view. Weaned on the derring-do of the province's proud European history, this game will be afforded little more than a footnote.

It wasn’t a punishment for Munster’s uncharacteristically tepid acquiescence against Saracens, more a reflection of the Sunday afternoon timing of an encounter of little consequence and that the Sale Sharks presented a second team, making 14 changes from last week’s match.

The English club retained just four players from last October's clash on the opening weekend of this season's Champions Cup.

The atmosphere was muted, the official attendance of 17,685, was a little under 9,000 shy of capacity, but was more representative of the nature of the contest in the opening 40 minutes. The plaintive cries of exasperation cut through the thwack of collisions and the raised voices of the players.

Angst

There was a certain pent-up angst in the crowd that bubbled over when Munster players made mistakes, perhaps a small residue from last week. It was only in the last 16 minutes when Munster ran in five tries that a carnival air settled over the ground.

Munster coach Anthony Foley spoke of a tough week for the group, a little introspection, a little reflection and a resolution to try and atone "for the people that matter to them". He classed the victory as bittersweet. "You see Saracens going though on 17 points and you are just left kicking yourself at what happened here in the Clermont game.

“You can’t lose at home and hope to qualify particularly with the calibre of teams that are in your group. It’d be very hard to go away and win twice in the group we had this year.

“So getting the win against Sale in round one, having an excellent contest here against Saracens (was a very good start), but then to turn up against Clermont here and lose, when you look back at it, cost us.”

It was a strange afternoon because Munster managed the ideal start with a try from fullback Simon Zebo within 90 seconds but by the interval had eked out a slender 13-10 lead.

The game had been a contest and some laxity in defence from the home side coupled with a little sloppy execution had invited Sale into the match.

Soft try

The English club were gift-wrapped a soft try as Munster’s line speed and Ian Keatley’s brittle tackle – he slipped off another that almost led to a second score – allowed Sharks’ Tom Arscott to tip-toe down the touchline and cross in the corner.

Sale had other opportunities but to their credit Munster’s goal-line defence midway through the half was considerably more abrasive.

Keatley’s boot kept the home side in front to the interval but Foley conceded “we were fortunate to be ahead at half-time.”

Munster scored their first of a staggering eight second-half tries within 52 seconds of the restart, the latter figure coinciding with the number of points the home side scored during that period.

It was appropriate that replacement centre Ivan Dineen – he came on for an injured Denis Hurley in the first half – was the creator, stepping inside one tackle and popping to onrushing Keith Earls, the latter showing his pace to scoot 60 metres and score at the posts.

Foley said of Dineen: “That’s the best I have ever seen Ivan play. I thought he showed lovely physicality to put Andrew [Conway] through a hole and made a nice break himself.” It was Earls last involvement virtually, as his groin tightened, a legacy of his long-term injury sabbatical but his removal was precautionary rather than a flare-up.

Hard-nosed running

Paul O’Connell and Tommy O’Donnell excelled at the breakdown, James Cronin and Dave O’Callaghan willing carriers, while Dineen and fellow replacement Pat Howard provided hard-nosed running that allowed Munster’s progress to be direct rather than lateral.

It was a busy afternoon for Andrew Conway, who notched up impressive stats of 145 metres carrying, scored two tries and was the recipient of a yellow card.

The ledger though was firmly in the black. Zebo also bagged a brace in a lively display, while JJ Hanrahan’s late cameo was warmly appreciated by the crowd.