URC semi-final: Munster 10 Glasgow Warriors 17
To Glasgow Warriors the spoils, and to Munster a pocketful of regrets and a never-ending sequence of ‘what ifs’ that will spin around in their minds, making them dizzy with regret.
Defeat means Munster won’t get to defend their brilliantly won United Rugby Championship title in a final at Thomond Park. There are layers to that disappointment, from performance blemishes to not being able to honour departing or retiring players in the cosy embrace of a final in Limerick.
The Scottish side were worthy winners because they took more of the chances presented but also because they demonstrated character and courage in adversity, qualities they hadn’t always shown in previous knock-out matches.
Yellow cards reduced them to 14 players on two occasions, but Glasgow’s resolve remained as watertight as their defence during those periods. They harried and hassled and scrambled for their lives, particularly in the opening quarter when indiscipline threatened to submerge their aspirations under a welter of penalties.
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Glasgow centre Sione Tuipolotu was a worthy man of the match, skittling defenders aside in giving his team positive gainlines from which to work. His centre partner Huw Jones, fullback Josh McKay and Kyle Steyn made pivotal contributions to their two tries, while scrumhalf George Horne was a fizzing presence.
The work of the Glasgow pack, with hooker Johnny Matthews, Rory Darge and Matt Fagerson in the van, managed to turn back the red tide with key turnovers.
Munster captain Tadhg Beirne had a colossal game, the bluecap omnipresent in attack and defence, and at times it seemed that by sheer willpower alone he’d drag his team to victory.
Alex Nankivill, Jeremy Loughman, Shane Daly and the outstanding Mike Haley were others to stand tall, but the home side just couldn’t get their way for long enough; their game management faltered, with some notable lapses in decision-making and also handling errors, with passes forced when a smidgen of patience was required.
It was a point picked up on by Munster head coach Graham Rowntree: “Yeah, that’s a composure piece with the players. We speak about one more ruck rather than an offload, which is brilliant if it comes off, you go ‘what a cracking offload!’ But we were just a bit guilty of forcing things a bit too much.”
Lineout glitches and turnovers also destabilised the home side’s launch plays from time to time. There was plenty to admire about Munster’s early energy, from scrum dominance to the shape of their attack, based on sharp handling, good depth on to the ball, underpinned by speed and width.
They unpicked seams in the Glasgow defence with good running lines but could not create that definitive try-scoring breach early on. Jack Crowley missed a penalty before kicking one to give the home side a 3-0 lead, but it was a paltry return considering Glasgow’s early indiscipline, which cost the visitors Richie Gray for 10 minutes, and the home side’s dominance of territory and possession.
Munster handed the visitors a try on 23 minutes when a pass was spilt in midfield and Steyn scooped up the loose ball to race over unopposed. Horne converted. Glasgow preserved a 7-3 lead to the interval, even after losing a second player, flanker Matt Fagerson, to a yellow card in first-half injury time.
No sooner had he returned than the Scottish side gave themselves a serious leg-up in terms of the result. McKay fielded a long dropout and elected to run back, and two passes later Jones was gliding through a gap before releasing wing Sebastián Cancelliere to cross for a try. Horne converted.
The crowd willed a Munster response. RG Snyman’s impact was immediate as he half-blocked down Horne’s kick. From the turnover in possession, the South African was again involved, putting Jeremy Loughman through a gap.
The prop accelerated into the Glasgow 22 and for a moment looked like making it all the way; Antoine Frisch did so seconds later from a ruck, the centre unmarked on the short side. Crowley kicked a brilliant touchline conversion to bring the home side back to within four points at 14-10 behind.
But indiscipline became a feature of Munster’s post-interval display, and as the game entered the final quarter, infringements gave Glasgow the chance to kick their way into the home side’s 22.
On 73 minutes, with the visitors on a penalty advantage inside the Munster 22, Nankivill flew into a ruck clear-out attempt on Horne; the upshot was a red card following a review of the incident. The Glasgow scrumhalf kicked the easy penalty to make it 17-10 to the visitors. Munster got to roll the dice one final time; they forced a penalty but could not produce an escape.
Beirne said: “You’ve got to give credit to the opposition in forcing mistakes too. We’ve spoken a little bit as well, at times we’ve had moments where we’ve gone off script, the game plan, and that has led to errors. I don’t think we really went off the game plan today; maybe we probably did when there was 70 minutes on the field.
“We probably overplayed a little bit inside our 40. They’re moments in the game where we have to be smarter, be more composed. We have shown in the last two seasons what we are capable of doing.
“We fell short, but they defended well. I don’t think we performed poorly; we weren’t clinical. I think at times we played well but definitely the future is bright.”
SCORING SEQUENCE – 12 mins: Crowley pen, 3-0; 23: Steyn try, Horne con, 3-7. Half-time: 3-7. 50: Cancelliere try, Horne con, 3-14; 55: Frisch try, Crowley con, 10-14; 74: Horne pen 10-17.
MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Shane Daly, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Simon Zebo; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Jack O’Donoghue.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron for Scannell, Oli Jager for Archer, RG Snyman for Wycherley (all 45 mins); Seán O’Brien for Nankevill (46-56, HIA/blood); Gavin Coombes for O’Donoghue (54); Conor Murray for Casey (56); O’Brien for Zebo (61); J Ryan for Loughman (65); Alex Kendellen for Hodnett (72).
Red card: A Nankivill (73 mins).
GLASGOW WARRIORS: Josh McKay; Sebastian Cancelliere, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn (capt); Tom Jordan, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Johnny Matthews, Zander Fagerson; Scott Cummings, Richie Gray; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Max Williamson for Gray, Henco Venter for Darge, Jamie Dobie for Cancelliere (all 56 mins); George Turner for Matthews (57); Euan Ferrie for Fagerson (60-70, HIA); Oli Kebble for Bhatti (70).
Yellow cards: R Gray (11 mins), M Fagerson (40+1).
Referee: A Piardi (Italy).
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