Lost leads leave wet-behind-the-ears Munster searching for answers

This rare 26-23 defeat at their Thomond Park fortress did not have a huge material affect on Munster’s Champions Cup campaign, in that they were pretty much consigned to an away Round-of-16 tie anyway. In that sense, the damage had already been done, most notably in that opening 17-17 draw against Bayonne.

However, Saturday’s result means Munster have not only endured a winless Thomond Park campaign for the first time but that they are doomed to not return there in this season’s Champions Cup. And while they showed their away-day mentality in that five-game unbeaten surge to the URC title last season, repeating the trick in this competition is an altogether stiffer task.

Perhaps more damaging than that, though, is how this defeat compounded the draw against Bayonne in further diluting the mystique around their one-time citadel and failed to prolong the momentum generated by the win in Toulon more than a week ago. That fine result stands as an outlier now rather than the start of a resurgence like the one that followed last season’s win over South Africa.

“Massively disappointed,” admitted a deflated Graham Rowntree after Saturday’s defeat. “Look where we were last week, in Toulon, savouring a fantastic victory, probably one of our most famous victories ever and we come here at home, it wasn’t going to just happen. I was at pains to say it wasn’t going to just happen.”

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Munster could have no excuses, even if they played into a fierce wind and gathering rain in that last half-hour. But they led 20-10 with 30 minutes remaining after Gavin Coombes had muscled over in trademark style for their third try against a side reduced to 14 men by the 40th-minute sending off of hooker Curtis Langdon for twice catching Tom Ahern on the head with his knees.

“The game got away from us, they grew another leg there,” admitted Rowntree. “We’ll look at how we can manage the game better in those conditions with what we had on the field. That’s all we can do.

“I’m not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater, we’ve done a body of great work this season, got some great men coming through. We’re going to lose some guys, there’s a group of players going to have play in the URC again, play against Crusaders, Quins away,” he added in reference to those additional games during the Six Nations break.

“We’ll look at that group of players, then we’ll come back together end of March, April and a Round-of-16 game. We knew we were going to have to go somewhere.”

The concern for Rowntree is that the manner of this defeat followed an uncomfortably familiar pattern. Against Bayonne, Munster led 14-3 at half-time, and in the loss away to Exeter, they were up 24-13 with half an hour to go. And this pattern has not been confined to the Champions Cup.

The captain, Tadhg Beirne, sought to find the positives in all of this: “They have been those types [of matches] that we felt like we could have won if we had just managed the game better but if you look back, we’ve shown how good we can be in all of them as well. So, we’ll take massive confidence from those as well.

“If we clean up one or two things and just be that little bit smarter I think teams will struggle against us. We just let them in at the wrong time in the last few weeks but we have shown some really good rugby in the last few weeks as well.”

Beirne has had the tough task of leading the side on foot of Peter O’Mahony stepping aside as captain, and the latter’s influence on the win in Toulon was profound. O’Mahony did not finish that game in France but Munster held on for the win regardless: on Saturday, however, the 34-year-old’s departure in the 66th minute compounded the loss of Conor Murray from the match-day squad to illness and of Simon Zebo early in the second half. Munster were left looking a little callow.

The young halves Craig Casey and Jack Crowley were sublime in the 20-minute period either side of half-time when Munster outscored the Saints by 20-3. But they must shoulder some of the responsibility for a kicking strategy that allowed Northampton lineout serve as launch pads, albeit Munster’s scrum and defensive maul also suffered.

“I’ve never met anyone more professional than him,” said Rowntree of Casey. “He’s got the most out of his body. A diligent kid, he’s in our leadership group. He won’t be over the moon with his performance tonight.

“That’s not to say he didn’t play well but he’ll have a good look at his game and he’ll improve from that. He’s going away now with Ireland, how they use him is up to them, but I’m really impressed by how he’s growing and maturing as a player.”

He also described Crowley as a thorough professional, adding: “He’s not the finished article by a long way and he knows that. He’s got a high ceiling, has Jack Crowley, I’m delighted he’s with us. He’ll learn from tonight, he’s still a young man and he’s learning from it.

“It’s a balance of what you’re doing in the sun in Toulon and what you’re doing in the rain in Thomond. It’s the balance, decision-making; he’s still learning. He’s got a high ceiling and I know he will learn. He’ll be better for it.”

The sole win in four pool games, as Rowntree noted, was in glorious sunshine. But as well as a certain callowness, the idea that Munster cannot play in averse, wintry conditions is perhaps a transformation too far.

Scoring sequence: 19 mins Mitchell try, Smith con 0-7; 32 mins Crowley pen 3-7; 38 mins Frisch try, Crowley con 10-7; 40 (+2 mins) O’Mahony try 15-7; (half-time 15-7); 43 mins Smith pen 15-10; 49 mins Coombes try 20-10; 56 mins Smith pen 20-13; 60 mins Smith drop goal 20-16; 64 mins Crowley pen 23-16; 67 mins Smith pen 23-19; 71 mins Graham try, Smith con 23-26.

Munster: Simon Zebo; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Oli Jager; Tom Ahern, Tadhg Beirne (C); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes. Replacements: Brian Gleeson for Ahern (40 mins), Seán O’Brien for Zebo (43 mins), John Ryan for Jager (50 mins), Alex Kendellen for O’Mahony (66 mins), Eoghan Clarke for Loughman, Josh Wycherley for Scannell (both 68 mins), Joey Carbery for Nankevill (70 mins). Not used: Paddy Patterson.

Northampton: George Furbank (capt); Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, Rory Hutchinson, Ollie Sleightholme; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Alex Waller, Curtis Langdon, Trevor Davison, Temo Mayanavanua, Alex Coles, Courtney Lawes, Tom Pearson, Juarno Augustus. Replacements: Robbie Smith for Sleightholme (46 mins), Sam Graham for Augustus (50 mins), Elliot Millar Mills for Davison (53 mins), Emmanuel Iyogun for Waller, Alex Moon for Mayanavanua (both 58 mins), Burger Odendaal for Hutchinson (65 mins). Not used: Tom James, Charlie Savala. Yellow card: Furbank (38-48 mins). Red card: Langdon (40 mins).

Referee: Tual Trainini (FRA)

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