LESS THAN TWO weeks on from the loss of their head coach Anthony Foley, Munster put on a fighting display and pulled off an extraordinary comeback at Ravenhill last night.
It showed exactly the spirit the Munster and Ireland rugby legend would have wished for.
“The thing that we talked about and probably will talk about for a while was that we can’t all of a sudden just forget Axel,” said Munster director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus said after the game.
“Him not being here and him not being the coach is one thing and we’re playing for him.
“We decided that the way we want to play was the way he coached us and I think that showed again this week.
“If you lose, then at least the other team was better than us. That I’m proud of, because we want to carry that legacy that Axel left the team with.”
Ulster kept Erasmus’ side scoreless until the 40th minute when the game’s star performer, Rory Scannell broke the deadlock. The 22-year-old went on to clinch the win for his side with a well-executed drop-goal five minutes from full-time.
The northern province looked like they just might have grabbed the win shortly after however, but Paddy Jackson’s drop-goal effort veered just wide.
“It was a gutsy performance. We have to be realistic – their drop goal could have gone over and we would have sat here with long faces,” Erasmus added.
“We have to look at the way we played and that’s the nice thing for me – that Rory Scannell went for that drop goal.
“Even if it was missed, it wasn’t us sitting back and hoping for stuff to happen. We’re trying to make stuff happen and that’s exactly what we were trying to do. Even if it was a loss, we would have been fairly happy with the performance.
“To guts it through and eventually break down the wall just before half-time, obviously that helped a lot. I think our fitness really showed in the second half, after a six-day turnaround which we’re proud of.
“It was still very close at the end, it wasn’t like we were comfortable winning this game. I’m just glad the guys got through at the end.”
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