AFTER WATCHING MUNSTER not only lose their unbeaten record for the season, but get hammered in the process, Rassie Erasmus, their director of rugby, was quick to defend his decision to leave some of his big-name players, like Conor Murray, at home and leave others, like Simon Zebo, on the bench.
“We made a decision not to being a few of our major players, but to bring the young boys and see how they react,” he said after the 37-10 loss in Glasgow.
“I am sure they learned a lot about how to handle a situation like this but I am also sure that when we get the likes of Conor Murray back we will go forward and do better.
“It is good to see the young boys in a situation like this, you always learn a lot. Glasgow were really good on the night and to score four tries to two is testament to how well they played. Well done to them, we were not in the game.”
Nor did he have any complaints about the red card shown to replacement lock Fineen Wycherley, late in the game for a shoulder charge to the head of a Glasgow player in a ruck.
“If the referee saw that and made that decision, then he deserves it. I don’t have a problem with it. It probably was a red card,” Erasmus added.
In fact, his side survived the final few minutes when they were a man short without conceding a score – more damaging had been the yellow shown to Billy Holland, the captain, for pulling down a maul early in the second half.
Munster were already up against it, turning 20-5 down, and the try they conceded seconds after Holland left the field just about settled the result. “We were under pressure from the beginning,” Erasmus reflected.
“We lost two loose forwards in the first 20 minutes. Billy [Holland, the lock] had to go on the flank and young Fineen [Wycherley] into the second row. Then Billy got a yellow card.
“We were under pressure and did not handle that pressure well – like the previous four games where Glasgow did not handle the pressure well and we beat them four games in a row. This time they did it to us, so well done to them.
“The only area where we competed was in the scrum. Apart from that, we were really outplayed on the night.”