From a performance point of view, Saturday’s 34-32 loss in Northampton wasn’t the most damaging defeat of what has been a difficult season for Munster. Save for a difficult third quarter where they couldn’t get their hands on the ball, the province looked capable of firing enough shots to counter all the bells and whistles of the Saints attack.
In the first half, Munster’s forward pods consistently worked over the gain line. When the offloads stuck, they provided plenty of cutting edge. The province’s Ireland contingent, in their final game before heading to Portugal for the customary pre-Six Nations camp, left their mark on the contest.
Especially Jack Crowley. Now that the national debate on Ireland outhalves kicks back into gear, it’s fitting that the 25-year-old offered his most assured performance of the season. For the most part, he kicked his goals. He was far more influential with ball in hand than Fin Smith, his English opposite number. A pair of try assists were thrown in for good measure, while a touchline conversion and late break from the 22 had Munster dreaming of a comeback.
“He was outstanding, he was excellent,” said Munster’s interim head coach Ian Costello. “Got our heart rates up at the end when he made that last break. All round he was really good. Puts him in a good position heading off into the Six Nations.”
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Crowley’s provincial captain and Ireland team-mate Tadhg Beirne, agreed. “Jack’s a phenomenal player and I think all the chat of him in the media, you know, he’s a young lad and he’s managing it really well, because some of it hasn’t been ideal for him.
“I think you’ve seen it in his performances over the last couple of weeks, how well he’s been playing, and I think he’s taking more and more confidence in that as each week goes by and I’ve no doubt he’ll carry that over into Ireland now.”
Beirne himself was sensational in the first 40. His speed off the defensive line tested the limits of Nika Amashukeli’s desire to call offside penalties, but he lived on the right side of that knife edge, dominating the Northampton carriers unfortunate enough to be in his channel. His counter-rucking was disruptive, as was his defensive lineout jumping.
Munster’s first score, coming shortly after Northampton broke the deadlock through Tom Seabrook, came directly from Beirne’s set piece nous. His lineout steal was followed by Conor Murray kicking into the vacant backfield. Calvin Nash outsprinted England scrumhalf Alex Mitchell to the bouncing ball to take the lead.
Murray was equally influential when Munster were later chasing the game. He spotted Northampton’s wandering defence close to the ruck, drawing his man before passing inside to send debutant Diarmuid Kilgallen over under the posts. “Conor, I’d say he’s going off in the Six Nations feeling really confident where his game’s at at the moment,” said Costello.
To round off the international involvement, Nash added a second score during Munster’s first-half purple patch, coming in off his wing in the manner so loved by Ireland coaches. Crowley put him through the gap behind Mike Haley’s decoy, one of two assists for the outhalf. Peter O’Mahony only lasted 50 minutes, a pre-planned decision from Costello given a lack of recent game time.
Munster made more line breaks than the Saints’ famed attack (five vs nine) off fewer carries (138 vs 129), while they were also more efficient inside the 22 (3.2 points per visit vs Northampton’s 2.8). This was no disaster.
Fifteen turnovers was the killer stat, Munster failing to hold on to the ball sufficiently in that second half after leading 12-15 at the break. Nine penalties wasn’t a terminal count, but they tended to come in bunches. Just shy of half-time Gavin Coombes’s high tackle broke Amashukeli’s patience after repeated offences inside the Munster 22. His yellow card allowed Northampton to score a maul try just before the break.
After the restart, further errors allowed Seabrook to cross again while Munster were still down to 14. James Ramm crossed once the full complement was restored, giving Saints a nine-point lead. Kilgallen twice showed his pace for tries either side of Seabrook completing his hat-trick via a lineout strike move, but the two unanswered scores Munster needed proved elusive.
Given that losing with two bonus points is, in isolation, forgivable, an earlier pool defeat remains the most significant factor in Munster now having an away draw in the last 16. “I think the disappointing thing was probably the Castres away game,” said Beirne. “We really let that one slip and that’s put us in this situation where we had to win today and we know how difficult it is to come here.”
“It’s hard to process that now because we gave ourselves an opportunity to play at home and that would have been massive for the club,” said Costello. “We came over pretty confident, feeling really well prepared, it’s disappointing that we just come up a bit short.”
SCORING SEQUENCE – 14 mins: T Seabrook try 5-0; 23: C Nash try, J Crowley con 5-7; 28: Crowley pen 5-10; 33: Nash try, 5-15; 40: C Langdon try, F Smith con 12-15 Half-time 12-15; 49: Seabrook try 17-15; 55: J Ramm try, Smith con 24-15; 58: Crowley pen 18-24; 60: Smith pen 27-18. 64: D Kilgallen try, Crowley con 27-25; 68: Seabrook try, Smith con 34-25; 78: Kilgallen try, Crowley con 34-32.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: J Ramm; T Freeman, F Dingwall (capt), R Hutchinson, T Seabrook; F Smith, A Mitchell; T Haffar, C Langdon, T Davison; A Coles, T Lockett; J Kemeny, T Pearson, J Augustus.
Replacements: C Hunter-Hill for Coles (54 mins), T West for Haffar, H Pollock for Augusts (both 60), L Green for Davison (63), T James for Mitchell, A Scott-Young for Kemeny (both 72), H Walker, T Litchfield.
MUNSTER: M Haley; C Nash, T Farrell, R Scannell, D Kilgallen; J Crowley, C Murray; D Bleuler, D Barron, O Jager; F Wycherley, T Beirne (capt), P O’Mahony, A Kendellen, G Coombes.
Replacements: N Scannell for Barron, S Archer for Jager, J O’Donoghue for O’Mahony, T Ahern for Wycherley (all 50 mins), T Butler for Nash (HIA, 63), B Gleeson for Kendellen (67), J Ryan for Bleuler, P Patterson for Murray (both 72), Barron for N Scannell (HIA, 75).
Yellow card: Coombes (40 mins).
Referee: N Amashukeli (Georgia).
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