Toulon 32 Munster 16: Munster have failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 13 years after suffering defeat at the hands of Toulon on the Cote d'Azur. The 2006 and 2008 champions needed at least a bonus point to have any hope of qualifying as one of the two best runners-up but never came close to achieving it.
Toulon were hugely impressive and won with first-half tries by Christian Loamanu and Paul Sackey and the goalkicking of Jonny Wilkinson, who garnered 22 points from six penalties and two conversions at the Stade Felix Mayol.
Their progress to the quarter-finals as Pool Three winners was secured when the Ospreys, who they play in Wales next week, lost 24-12 at London Irish to see their hopes disappear.
Paul O’Connell returned from suspension to take his place in the starting line-up and the 2,000-plus Munster fans who made the trip to the south of France would have been hoping the talismanic lock could inspire another big performance.
The visitors started the game with serious intent and after Toulon were penalised for illegally holding up a Munster attack, O’Gara tapped over from under the posts.
That score seemed to spur Toulon into action, however, and Munster had to scramble to prevent them from getting over in the right corner. But Philippe Saint-Andre’s side stole the ball from the first scrum of the game and Wilkinson levelled the scores from the penalty that followed.
Munster’s difficulties in the scrum were becoming all too clear as the game wore on and Wilkinson punished another infraction to give Toulon a 6-3 lead on the quarter hour.
After a promising start, the men in red were now having difficulty getting out of their own half and Wilkinson soon put Toulon further in front. He then missed a chance from distance but with referee Dave Pearson signalling for another penalty, Toulon took full advantage the next time they reached the Munster 22.
Mignoni chipped over the top and winger Loamanu leaped to gather the ball and score in the left corner. Wilkinson added the extras to give Toulon a commanding 16-3 lead after 24 minutes.
O’Gara immediately reduced the arrears, but Munster’s hopes of getting back into the game were dealt a huge below when O’Callaghan needlessly pulled back a Toulon player as he chased a kick through.
Once again Toulon made the advantage count by exploiting the extra space. Mignoni made a half-break into the 22, and play was swept wide to the right where Sackey touched down after some poor tackling from Keith Earls and Johne Murphy.
O’Gara replied with a penalty but a tactically poor Munster were still 17 points behind at the interval. Wilkinson put Toulon 29-9 ahead with a penalty shortly after the restart.
Munster’s frustrations were getting the better of them and they suffered a further setback when O’Gara was harshly sin-binned after tangling off the ball with Mignoni.
Wilkinson then extended Toulon’s lead before prop Davit Kubriashvili was yellow carded in the final quarter, but Munster still could not make any inroads.
Flanker David Wallace, arguably Munster’s best player on a day to forget, scored a consolation try with three minutes remaining, but it was too little too late for the visitors.
