MUNSTER COACH CLAYTON McMillan admitted that the six minutes before half-time, when his team suffered two soft moments that led to tries, proved damaging in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final against the Bulls, which the province lost 45-14 in Pretoria on Saturday.
Munster had shown impressive mettle in recovering from conceding two tries in the first 10 minutes, trailing just 14-17 after the excellent Alex Nankivell had started and ended a 24-phase attack with their second try, but they then allowed the Bulls to strike back with tries in the 34th and 39th minutes.
That meant the three-time finalists went into half-time with a considerable 31-14 lead.
The final nail in Munster’s coffin came in the 54th minute when, hard on attack, they gave the ball away to Bulls scrum-half Embrose Papier, who had the pace to run from inside his own 22 and score the try that made it 38-14 – game over.
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“Finals are often about moments and we could have controlled a couple of them better than we did,” McMillan said after the defeat.
“It’s about belief in ourself and if we had gone into the break 14-17 down then it would have been a different ball game.
Munster head coach Clayton McMillan. Steve Haag Sports / Darren Stewart/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Darren Stewart/INPHO / Darren Stewart/INPHO
“I’m really proud that when we were under a huge amount of pressure – 14-0 down inside the first 10 minutes – we stuck in the fight and worked our way back in the game. We had to work extremely hard for our two tries and then we conceded two relatively soft tries.
“It’s moments like those that swing big games. We still weren’t totally out of the game in the first 10 minutes of the second half. If you get to 21-31 then the psyche changes. We feel that we are in striking distance and they maybe change the way they play.
“But we weren’t able to take our opportunity and then they were good enough to punish us for our mistake. The Bulls’ ability to capitalise when we got a bit fractured and loose was the most impressive part of their game, even though their scrum is a real weapon as a reliever or to apply pressure. Their maul too, they can leverage off that forward dominance,” McMillan said.
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann said they thought Munster would look to kick more.
“We were surprised Munster didn’t kick as much as previously. But I felt we had a good balance, we played well at times from our own half and at times we used kicks very well. In terms of our overall performance – lineouts, scrums, the way we fought in defence, being able to get momentum – I was very pleased,” Ackermann said.
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'We conceded two relatively soft tries. Moments like those swing big games'
MUNSTER COACH CLAYTON McMillan admitted that the six minutes before half-time, when his team suffered two soft moments that led to tries, proved damaging in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final against the Bulls, which the province lost 45-14 in Pretoria on Saturday.
Munster had shown impressive mettle in recovering from conceding two tries in the first 10 minutes, trailing just 14-17 after the excellent Alex Nankivell had started and ended a 24-phase attack with their second try, but they then allowed the Bulls to strike back with tries in the 34th and 39th minutes.
That meant the three-time finalists went into half-time with a considerable 31-14 lead.
The final nail in Munster’s coffin came in the 54th minute when, hard on attack, they gave the ball away to Bulls scrum-half Embrose Papier, who had the pace to run from inside his own 22 and score the try that made it 38-14 – game over.
“Finals are often about moments and we could have controlled a couple of them better than we did,” McMillan said after the defeat.
“It’s about belief in ourself and if we had gone into the break 14-17 down then it would have been a different ball game.
“I’m really proud that when we were under a huge amount of pressure – 14-0 down inside the first 10 minutes – we stuck in the fight and worked our way back in the game. We had to work extremely hard for our two tries and then we conceded two relatively soft tries.
“It’s moments like those that swing big games. We still weren’t totally out of the game in the first 10 minutes of the second half. If you get to 21-31 then the psyche changes. We feel that we are in striking distance and they maybe change the way they play.
“But we weren’t able to take our opportunity and then they were good enough to punish us for our mistake. The Bulls’ ability to capitalise when we got a bit fractured and loose was the most impressive part of their game, even though their scrum is a real weapon as a reliever or to apply pressure. Their maul too, they can leverage off that forward dominance,” McMillan said.
Bulls coach Johan Ackermann said they thought Munster would look to kick more.
“We were surprised Munster didn’t kick as much as previously. But I felt we had a good balance, we played well at times from our own half and at times we used kicks very well. In terms of our overall performance – lineouts, scrums, the way we fought in defence, being able to get momentum – I was very pleased,” Ackermann said.
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