Leicester Tigers 17
Munster 6
Rory Keane reports from Welford Road
MUNSTER’S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS Cup campaign was dealt a seismic blow against a clinical Leicester outfit at Welford Road.
Tries from blindside Ed Slater and winger Vereniki Goneva did the damage, with fly-half Freddie Burns adding seven points from the boot.
Anthony Foley’s side played with impressive shape throughout the contest and are showing signs of real development in their attacking game, but they failed time and again to capitalise on spades of possession and territory.
Despite all their attacking endeavour, a brace of Ian Keatley penalties was all Munster had to show for their efforts. There were some stand-out performances from the visitors, with James Cronin, Mike Sherry, CJ Stander and Francis Saili putting in big shifts, but this brutally efficient Leicester outfit have proved too big an obstacle over the past two weekends. Munster still have 15 points to play for in January, but their task is looking ominous.
England international fly-half Burns, who was making his first appearance this term after sustaining a fractured jaw in pre-season, made an impressive start, playing flat to the gainline and inviting willing runners onto the ball.
Having weathered an early Leicester storm, Munster came roaring back into the contest with a flowing attack, with backs and forwards linking superbly to yield Keatley’s first penalty attempt of the evening. The under-fire No 10 made no mistake from the tee to secure an early 3-0 lead.
Munster received a further boost, with tighthead John Ryan standing up well to his first few scrummaging tests against veteran Puma prop Marcos Ayerza. Munster had their tails up with Saili, Sherry and Stander leading the charge. Leicester once again strayed offside but Keatley pulled his penalty effort right of the posts.
Leicester full-back Telusa Veainu, who caused Munster so much trouble at Thomond Park, scythed through the visitors’ defence before being hit high by Keatley, drawing cries of derision from the stands. Leicester opted to go for the corner and trucked it up through their forward, with skipper Slater barging his way over from close-range. Burns added the extras to make it 7-3 with 20 minutes played.
Very much like last weekend’s encounter in Limerick, Munster were playing plenty of rugby but Leicester were showing the clinical edge with their brief forays into opposition territory. Leicester had their tails up approaching the break as they hammered the Munster defence with wave after wave of attack. Eventually, the pressure told with Burns knocking over his first penalty of the evening to make it 10-3.
A perfect chop tackle from Dave O’Callaghan and a superb jackling effort from Stander lifted another siege as Leicester made further inroads. In a huge momentum shifter, substitute lock Dom Barrow, who had replaced Graham Kitchener in the 36th minute, cynically obstructed Conor Murray, earning the young Tigers lock 10 minutes in the bin. Keatley knocked over the resulting penalty to cut Leicester’s lead to four points heading into the break.
Munster came firing out of the blocks after the break as Saili left the Leicester defence for dead, only for his opposite number Peter Betham to pull off a great cover tackle before No 8 Lachlan McCaffrey swooped in to make an excellent turnover. Back Munster came, however, with Conway, Sherry and Stander making big inroads before Murray’s skip pass to Cronin drifted forward.
Munster desperately needed to capitalise on their numerical superiority, with a monstrous scrummage forcing a penalty. Keatley, however, could not convert leaving Leicester off the hook. Burns shanked a 56th-minute penalty effort that would have stretched Leicester’s lead to seven points.
Munster were hanging on for dear life as Leicester went for the jugular. Saili lifted the siege with a stunning intercept but Veainu showed searing pace to chase down the Kiwi. Saili offloaded to the onrushing Simon Zebo who was then hauled down by Adam Thompstone. Referee Jerome Garces, who missed an obstruction on Keith Earls in the lead-up, whistled Zebo for holding on as Leicester lifted the siege.
Buoyed by that magnificent defensive effort, Veainu then left Mark Chisholm for dead and, despite an excellent cover tackle from Andrew Conway, the electric Tongan offloaded to the onrushing Goneva for the game-clinching score.
With both benches cleared, Munster went searching for a late, losing bonus point, but, once again, that clinical edge was missing.
Leicester scorers
Tries: Slater, Goneva
Conversions: Burns [2]
Penalties: Burns [1]
Munster scorers
Penalties: Keatley [2]
LEICESTER: Telusa Veainu; Adam Thompstone, Peter Betham, Matt Smith, Vereniki Goneva (Bai 72’); Freddie Burns (Bell 67’), Ben Youngs (Harrison 75’); Marcos Ayerza (Aguero 44’-49’ HIA), Tom Youngs (Thacker 71), Dan Cole (Balmain 57’); Michael Fitzgerald (Croft 51’), Graham Kitchener (Barrow 36’); Ed Slater (capt.), Brendon O’Connor, Lachlan McCaffrey.
MUNSTER: Andrew Conway; Keith Earls, Francis Saili, Denis Hurley (Amorosino 74’), Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley (Scannell 66’), Conor Murray (O’Leary 58’); James Cronin, Mike Sherry (Scannell 69’), John Ryan (Sagario 74’); Dave Foley, Mark Chisholm (Hollanad 69); Robin Copeland, Dave O’Callaghan (O’Donoghue 51’), CJ Stander (capt.).
Replacements not used: Dave Kilcoyne
Referee: Jerome Garces
