Murray Kinsella Reports from Thomond Park

THE MUNSTER FANS found full voice as hope and belief surged in the closing stages at Thomond Park.

Dan Kelly cantered over as they finally broke the Leinster resistance with 10 minutes to go.

And the home side got the ball back soon after, working their way upfield looking for the try that would have leveled the game, or the converted try that would have won it at the death.

They had the ball in Leinster’s half with the clock in the red but it came forward off Rieko Ioane as Jack Crowley passed. And that was that.

“We created a couple of moments there at the end,” said Munster head coach Clayton McMillan after his side’s 13-8 URC defeat.

“On another day we get a pass away and we score and it comes down to a conversion, but it didn’t happen, so you take it on the chin and move on.”

Josh van der Flier’s early try might have left some Munster fans feeling worried at the time but their side muscled up over the remainder of the game and forced Leinster to produce some stern defensive passages.

And despite their poor start, Munster felt like it was one that got away.

“I think the first-half was very stop/start, it’s the way they like to play the game,” said Munster skipper Tadhg Beirne.

“I wouldn’t say we felt fatigued as a team coming in at half time, we felt like there was a lot in the tank.

“We said there was a lot more in us. I thought we attacked the second half quite well. It’s just one of those games that we’ll be frustrated that we didn’t win. I think Leinster will probably walk away from here feeling like they got away with one too.”

Munster had eight entries into the Leinster 22 overall but their only return was that Kelly try late in the second half.

The failure to convert in the 22 has been a theme for this side in recent weeks, so the frustration is familiar.

“I suppose for us it’s frustrating that we just couldn’t convert our chances,” said Beirne. We had a good few opportunities and we had them camped down in their half for a lot of the game. But we just couldn’t convert.

“Whether it was a handling error or we just lost a moment around the ruck and the ball spilled out. Just moments like that. Those kind of moments are huge in games like this where it’s a one-score game.

“It’s just about being better holding on to the ball and breaking the teams down by doing that.”

Munster boss McMillan indicated a level of annoyance with what Leinster did at breakdown time.

While he stressed that much of it was in Munster’s control, he felt Leinster could have been more strictly policed.

“There were a couple of occasions where we needed to be better in our ball presentation,” said McMillan.

“But there were times, I think where men were swimming around the corners of rucks, something that was brought to the officials’ attention pre-game.

“We knew it was going to be a contest at the breakdown. A big song and dance was made about that being ruled out of the game at the beginning of the season.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s being reffed. But you don’t deal with what you’re dealing with on the day and we need to be better looking after that.”