Munster 47
Toulouse 23
MUNSTER MARCHED INTO the last four of the Heineken Cup after thrashing Toulouse 47-23 at Thomond Park. Rob Penney’s side hit the front after four minutes when Keith Earls crossed for a try. The home side kept the scoreboard ticking over before shifting the throttle in the second half.
Munster went through 20 phases to work their way into the Toulouse 22 in the opening minutes. Ian Keatley found Simon Zebo in the backline and the left winger found Earls with a looping pass. The Limerick native dived over and Keatley converted. Luke McAlister tagged back three points before Keatley responded with two penalties of his own. McAlister, a late call-up to the starting XV, knocked over his second and third penalties to make it a four-point game at the break.
Munster, having lost captain Peter O’Mahony to a shoulder injury after 10 minutes, settled home nerves with an early flurry in the second half. Dave Kilcoyne crashed over after 43 minutes and replacement flanker CJ Stander bulled past three black jerseys to touch down by the posts.
All Blacks winger Hosea Gear responded for Guy Noves’ men after 55 minutes as both sides were down to 14 men. By the time props Kilcoyne and Yohan Montes returned to the pitch, Keatley had stretched the Munster lead with a penalty.
The jig looked up for the visitors with 13 minutes to go as outside centre Casey Laulala sprinted home and dived over. The score came after a botched 22 drop-out had put Toulouse on the back foot and created a three-man Munster overlap on the left wing.
Back row Joe Tekori gave the French side a glimpse of a comeback as he battered his way over for a try that Lionel Beauxis converted to make it 35-23. In the final minutes, Simon Zebo set his sights for the tryline and stomped over scrum-half Jean Marc Doussain to score. Keatley missed his conversion but it was a mere blip on a soaring day for the home side.
The coup-de-grace was delivered in the last minute by Paul O’Connell as he took a JJ Hanrahan offload to heave over by the posts. A semi final in Marseilles or Dublin awaits but, for now, Munster can rest up. Their job is done and emphatically so.
Munster scorers
- Tries: Earls, Kilcoyne, Stander, Laulala, Zebo, O’Connell
- Conversions: Keatley (4)
- Penalties: Keatley (3)
Toulouse scorers
- Tries: Gear, Tekori
- Conversions: Beauxis (2)
- Penalties: McAlister (3)
Munster: Felix Jones; Keith Earls (Gerhard van den Heever), Casey Laulala, James Downey (JJ Hanrahan), Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Conor Murray (Duncan Williams); Dave Kilcoyne, Damien Varley, BJ Botha; Dave Foley (Donncha O’Callaghan), Paul O’Connell; Peter O’Mahony (capt.) (CJ Stander), Tommy O’Donnell, James Coughlan.
Replacements: Duncan Casey, John Ryan, Alan Cotter.
Toulouse: Maxime Médard; Yoann Huget, Florian Fritz (Jean-Marc Doussain), Gaël Fickou, Hosea Gear; Luke McAlister (Lionel Beauxis), Jano Vermaak; Gurthrö Steenkamp (Schalk Ferreira), Christopher Tolofua (Jaba Bregvadze), Yohan Montès; Yoann Maestri (Romain Millo-Chluski), Patricio Albacete (capt.); Yacouba Camara, Joe Tekori, Louis Picamoles (Gillian Galan).
Replacements: Cyril Baille, Clément Poitrenaud.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
