Murray Kinsella reports from Murrayfield
THIS WAS TYPICAL Munster.
When it seemed as if a 14th Champions Cup semi-final, and their third in a row, was going to slip away, they found a way.
That it happened in front of a vocal travelling Red Army of around 15,000 people made it even more characteristic.
The southern province manufactured a 72nd-minute try for man of the match Keith Earls, with Tyler Bleyendaal’s assured conversion handing Munster a 17-13 lead that they clung onto with some desperate defence in the dying stages.
Edinburgh will feel this was a missed opportunity and while Munster acknowledged that they have major improvements to make before their semi-final in three weekends’ time, this victory adds another chapter to a hearty history of dramatic victories in Europe.
“Off-field, I think it’s the people,” said head coach Johann van Graan afterwards when asked what it is about Munster that drives them to edge these kinds of games.
“If you were inside the bus when we arrived here, it’s breathtaking to see the supporters. It felt like we were going to play at home.
“In terms of the group, that’s why I came to Munster – because of what Munster’s about.
“It’s about passion, it’s about integrity. It’s about real heart and real grit and Munster seem to never do it the easy way, and we certainly didn’t do it today.
“I’m incredibly proud to be the coach of this team but the most important message to the team from our side was, ‘Brilliant, let’s enjoy tonight and it’s our third semi-final in a row. It will be a massive semi-final but we as a group have got big dreams.’
“We’ll get to that in a few weeks’ time.”
Munster’s performance had many flaws, which they will pick over in detail in the coming days, but the success was more impressive for the fact that they lost key players to injury.
Fullback Mike Haley was ruled out pre-match through illness, prompting Andrew Conway to be switched to the 15 shirt and the excellent Darren Sweetnam to come in on the wing.
Then there were first-half injuries for key man Joey Carbery and dynamic openside flanker Jack O’Donoghue, but Bleyendaal and Arno Botha did superb jobs off the bench for Munster.
There was also a first-half yellow card for second row Tadhg Beirne but Munster won that 10-minute period 7-0 as Earls scored his first try and Carbery added the conversion.
“Just before we got on the bus, we had the news that Mike was out,” said van Graan. “The way we train and do things, nothing fazes us. We just adapt and I thought we handled that well.
“The yellow card, losing Jack and Joey in the first-half, it’s a lot earlier than normal but we regrouped at half-time, changed one or two things tactically and the belief was there.
“That’s the beauty of our squad. We have four quality out-halves and we made a decision to go with Tyler this weekend and once you get your opportunity you’ve got to use it. That last conversion from the touchline is massive in the context of our season.
“Congratulations to the players for pulling through.”
Carbery exited with a hamstring injury and will be a concern moving forward, having been a doubt for this game with a hamstring issue, but van Graan’s initial feeling on the out-half was optimistic.
“He’s very disappointed. He felt a bit of stiffness after about 25 minutes and said he was going to play on.
“We don’t foresee it to be serious but it’s not for me to speculate at this stage. 10 minutes later he said he couldn’t continue and we pulled him.”
- This article was updated at 4.35pm to amend ’10,000 people’ to ’15,000 people’ in the third paragraph.
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