IF THERE WAS a moment where it looked as though yesterday’s thrilling URC semi-final meeting between Leinster and Munster was slipping away from Graham Rowntree’s side, it came in the 64th minute.
Having held out a determined Munster effort with a huge defensive shift, Leinster had just struck for their second try via replacement lock Joe McCarthy. With Harry Byrne nursing a minor leg injury, Ciarán Frawley sent the conversion wide but even then, Leinster looked well placed to hold out for the closing 15 minutes.
Yet the latest installment of this old rivalry was to be served with a twist. There would be one final chance for Munster, and when it arrived with just three minutes to play, Jack Crowley stepped up to cap a patient, disciplined and often brave Munster journey into the Leinster 22 with a nerveless drop goal which finally put this gripping contest to bed.
The crowd went wild, and the players duly followed as Munster soaked up a glorious day in Dublin. The win ended a rotten run of results against men in blue jerseys, and leaves the province just one game away from finally ending a long trophy drought that stretches all the way back to 2011.
Speaking after the game, Munster wing Keith Earls revealed he found himself shedding a tear as support staff and families spilled on to the pitch. The emotions had settled a touch by the time he reached the press room, where he reflected on the moments under the post after McCarthy had put Leinster ahead, and how that set the tone for what was to come from Munster.
“Jack O’Donoghue (spoke). ‘Next moment’,” Earls said.
“That’s the way we spoke all week. It wasn’t perfect, games like this are never perfect, there’ll always be mistakes and you have to accept it. You have to be brave enough to go for the next moment, and Jack Crowley did.”
Sitting to his right, head coach Graham Rowntree was proud while typically succinct in most of his answers. He praised the effort and reminded the group that the biggest challenge will arrive on 27 May against the Stormers.
To even be in a URC final is a fine achievement for a team that are still in the early stages of their development under Rowntree.
There have been times this year, before their late-season surge, where the performances on the pitch haven’t reflected the positivity emanating from the camp. Yet Munster can now count themselves as the only team to have beaten Leinster in Dublin this season. The Munster boss felt the result was down to the hard work he’s seen behind the scenes all year, work that gave him faith even when the results weren’t coming.
“How you train everyday, what we do in training every day, we’ve changed a lot,” Rowntree said.
“You have to train at intensity, test your skills under pressure, and on top of that we’ve not had the ability to chop and change and rest our squad. We have a core group that have battled away from hope for five weeks now, and that’s given them true belief. Our fitness has been a huge improvement this year.”
Munster’s latest statement win on the road sets up another massive challenge away from home. Their reward for beating Leinster in Dublin is a URC final date with the Stormers in Cape Town. A different challenge, but one they’ll relish – it’s only a month since Munster left the DHL Stadium with an unlikely two-point win over the defending champions.
“Leinster are exceptional defensively at the breakdown, we spoke about it in the week,” Rowntree continued.
“They’ll chance their arm, particularly near the goal line. We knew it was coming. Stormers have a huge pack, on not the best of surfaces in world rugby. We had a challenge with their scrum and maul (when we played them last month), and also the pace they can play the game.
“I’m a big fan of how he [John Dobson] coaches, but we’ll deal with that next week.”
For Leinster, it’s the double dream gone for another year, although a Champions Cup final meeting with La Rochelle on Saturday ensures they can still sign off for the season on a high. Their biggest prize is still up for grabs, but last night will sting.
“We should be able to close out the game, realistically, the position we’re in,” said Leinster head coach, Leo Cullen.
“We were a couple of points in front and we’re going forward off a line-out maul.
“Credit to Munster, they found a way to get out of their end of the field and Jack Crowley kicks the winning drop goal.
“It was a real tight game I thought, two teams going hard at it, great occasion, good celebration of Irish rugby and unfortunately we didn’t come out the right side of it.
“That’s the game, there are going to be calls either way. We’ve just to control what we can ourselves. At the end of the game we were in a really good position and we just couldn’t quite close out the game, unfortunately.”
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