Van Graan vows to stay following Munster’s ‘miraculous’ win

Munster 25 Glasgow Warriors 24

Johann van Graan emphatically ruled out a return to the Bulls and pledged his future to the Munster cause.

The Munster head coach was linked with a return to his hometown club last week, where his father is CEO, but, after witnessing his side’s miraculous come-from-behind victory over Glasgow Warriors, van Graan distanced himself from an early Munster departure.

“Yes, I am not going back to the Bulls. I signed a contract until the end of June 2020 with Munster. I’m loving every single moment of it,” said van Graan.

“You’ll always have approaches, there will always be speculation. I’m staying at Munster and I believe in this journey.

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“I believe in our squad and I believe in this club and I’m staying in Munster.”

It was left to Rory Scannell to deliver the winning penalty kick from halfway in the 80th minute, but tries from Alex Wootton and Alby Mathewson had hauled Munster back into contention after they had trailed 24-10 after an hour.

Shoulder injury

An inspirational performance from Peter O’Mahony played a huge part in Munster’s comeback, but Joe Schmidt will be very concerned that one of his key back-rows left the field in considerable pain due to a shoulder injury. O’Mahony picked up the right shoulder injury while winning the final penalty for his side, while van Graan also voiced his annoyance at an earlier late hit on his captain by Warriors’ Adam Ashe.

“It’s so early, he came into the changing room first with a bit of pain. I don’t think it’s anything very serious. He’s had a big work load on him. All credit to him, he’s in the form of his life and he’s in brilliant fitness to come through these games. I don’t think it’s serious.

“I won’t comment on that one [the late tackle] now, we’ll speak to the referee manager about that one. It was off the ball after he made the pass. It was a big off-the-ball hit on him there. We’ll review that.

Look, this club doesn't know how to give up, that's what Munster is renowned for

“He just took a big hit. He actually got up and made the final tackle there in the corner. No it was a big hit on him. I don’t think it was necessary for a HIA, the medical staff luckily make those calls, not me from the top.”

Before kick-off Andrew Conway was pulled out of the starting lineout due to illness – van Graan said it was nothing serious – while Sammy Arnold left the action in the first half following a crunching tackle.

Unscathed

Otherwise Munster’s Ireland contingent appeared to come through the game unscathed, including CJ Stander, Darren Sweetnam and Keith Earls, who all played 80 minutes.

Munster are scheduled to fly out to South Africa on Monday morning ahead of next Sunday’s meeting with Cheetahs, and, after a positive performance against Leinster, a bonus point win and draw in the Champions Cup and this morale-boosting win over Glasgow, van Graan’s side are a confident bunch.

“Look, this club doesn’t know how to give up, that’s what Munster is renowned for. We are never beaten until we get back in the changing room. We had three big wins at home by big points margins and we knew a close one was going to come.

“I didn’t believe it was going to be that close, but this game keeps you humble and tonight the luck was on our side.

“We had one big moment to kick it and Rory did it. It was a brilliant team effort but all credit to Glasgow – I think they’re a quality side.”

Scorers

Munster
Tries: J Cronin, Wootton, Mathewson
Cons: Hanrahan, Keatley
Pens: Hanrahan, R Scannell

Glasgow Warriors
Tries: G Horne (2), Fagerson, P Horne
Cons: P Horne, Thomson

MUNSTER: M Haley; D Sweetnam, S Arnold, R Scannell, K Earls; JJ Hanrahan, A Mathewson; J Cronin, N Scannell, J Ryan; J Kleyn, B Holland; P O'Mahony (C), C Cloete, CJ Stander.

Replacements: A Wootton for Arnold (39 mins HIA), D Kilcoyne for J Cronin (47 mins), S Archer for Ryan (58 mins), A Botha for Cloete (61 mins), I Keatley for Hanrahan(62 mins), N Cronin for Mathewson (77 mins), F Wycherley for Kleyn (78 mins).

GLASGOW WARRIORS: R Jackson; N Matawalu, N Grigg, S Johnson, R Hughes; P Horne, G Horne; O Kebble, G Stewart, D Rae; R Harley, S Cummings; A Ashe, C Gibbins (C), M Fagerson.

Replacements: S McDowall for Johnson (23 mins), J Bhatti for Kebble (37 mins), B Thomson for Hughes (52 mins), C Fusaro for Ashe (62 mins), P du Plessis for Rae (64 mins), K Bryce for Stewart (74 mins), G Peterson for Harley (74 mins), R Harley for Cummings (77 mins).

Referee: Daniel Jones (WRU).