WHEN IT MATTERED most Munster found a way. Graham Rowntree’s team knew their European season was on the line ahead of today’s Pool 3 clash with Toulon but the province summoned a special performance at the Stade Felix Mayol, beating their star-studded hosts 29-18 after a cracking Champions Cup encounter.
This was a clinical, accurate and disciplined performance that has the potential to reignite Munster’s season following a disappointing run of results across both the Champions Cup and URC.
Speaking after the game, Rowntree reflected on the latest in a long line of famous Munster away days.
“Very proud,” Rowntree said. “You know, we got our game going there. We spoke this week about being ambitious.
“I’ve seen the body of work we’ve done all season. We had a challenging period over Christmas with weather, a lot of moving parts with injuries, et cetera, but we’ve had a cracking training week.
This is a huge competition for us and we were able to come over here and get our game on the field there, I’m immensely proud of the lads right from the get go.
“We didn’t have a lot of possessional territory and, a lot of it we were defending extremely well, but we took our chances when we had to.”
Munster made the trip to France as underdogs but delivered an excellent performance on their way to a bonus-point win at the Stade Felix Mayol, Alex Nankivell and Simon Zebo scoring tries in the first half before Tom Ahern and Calvin Nash crossed in the second period.
The result was all the more impressive given Munster had to see out an early wave of Toulon pressure – the hosts moving into a 10-0 lead before Rowntree’s side began to turn the screw.
“(It was) Just stick to the plan, really, in terms of how we’re challenging the team within our structure within our phase shape. Just basically stick to what we’ve been doing in training.
“We changed our kicking game a bit at half time, but stuck to the plan, you know, under pressure. We knew if we can keep the ball in play, keep the ball on the field, keep the ball in play and move them around.
“We knew there’d be opportunities for us when we stuck to that plan. Really. Nothing more exciting than that, really.”
The result was also Munster’s first away win of the season and comes after a difficult spell for the province – who had won just one of their last six heading into this game.
“It increases our belief. You know, we’ve not lost that completely. We knew, injuries, a few lads coming back into the team, we knew good ground conditions, good weather, we can play.
“The evidence is there. Look what we did in Exeter, you know, we lost our way the last quarter in the Exeter game but we played some scintillating rugby. We know what we can do, but this just backs up the body of work we’ve done, backs up our belief.”