Munster… 16
Castres Olympique… 13
There will come a day when it won’t work. When the bucket will come up dry from the well. Don’t plan your schedule around it though. Because if it didn’t happen last night in France, there may be a lengthy wait for such a situation.
Again Munster found aaawwwe teetering on the cliff edge. Once more they managed to extricate themselves from the bind. Not that they look for such scenarios, but the abyssmal French weather was the perfectly imperfect backdrop to the brand of trench warfare rugby they have patented and perfected over the years.
The visitors were first out of the blocks courtesy of a penalty from burgeoning fly half Jack Crowley, but a converted try from the locals left 7-3 clear after a dour first half. Their ‘Major’ coming at the end of the only fluid passage of play in a first half inhibited by the atrocious weather conditions.
If there’s one sports team on planet earth who should have the copyright on triumph over adversity, it’s those who will soon be coachless. Crowley kept them them in touch in the early stages of the second half with his accuracy from dead balls, but with his opposite number Ben Botica proving equally efficient at the other end it appeared a losing bonus point was as much as Johann Van Graan’s group could hope for.
But then, the men in red don’t do scripts. Never have, and seemingly never will. That being the case didn’t mean they left it any easier for themselves. Hell no. Firstly the No. 10 turned down an easy three points, opting to kick for the corner with ten minutes remaining instead. That’s eons in brave and faithful time.
Still, it was surprising that Peter O’Mahony didn’t instruct the half back to do the right thing. An error which appeared to have been compounded when the ensuing lineout was absolutely butchered off Kevin O’Byrne’s throw.
Four points down with under four to play, on the night that was in it, you wondered could even evoking the spirit of Axel and Paulie et al would be enough to pull this one out of the fire. Of course it was, but yes, they had to take the circuitous route about getting there.
Somewhat fittingly, Crowley was the instigator of the game’s pivotal play when earning his colleagues territory deep in the Castres 22. However, as is the norm, that left the residents in control the leather.
Mind you, what they didn’t have was the best man at depriving people of their possession since Ned Kelly – Tadhg Beirne! The Kildare man’s looting of the leaders’ breakdown created a decisive scrum.
Off the back of which wing forward Gavin Coombes broke before stretching out a long arm to touch down and push Munster into a most unlikely one point lead. Crowley duly drilled the extras and the redoubtable warriors had made the seemingly impossible look like a housing estate kick around yet again.