Leinster weren’t at their best against Scarlets, but they were still comfortably good enough to earn a United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final date with Glasgow. Leo Cullen’s team will again have home advantage for Saturday’s meeting with the Scottish side at the Aviva Stadium (2.45pm). However, it was Munster who took their fans on an emotional journey in South Africa, where they fell to Sharks in Kings Park after extra-time and a rancorous penalty shoot-out.
It was Munster of old and a performance full of vim and fight against a Springbok-laden home side and a hostile crowd. The outcome was all the more heartbreaking as Munster came close to winning the match, which ended 24-24. The Irish province fell to one missed penalty kick, with Sharks nailing all six of theirs for a 6-4 win.
Leinster will plan to put their game face on for an entire 80 minutes against Glasgow. They were never in fear of losing to Scarlets, but still found ways to make it hard for themselves. Afterwards, Leo Cullen dismissed suggestions that the modest attendance of 12,879 had anything to do with Leinster’s overall performance in the 33-21 victory.
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“No, no, no, no. I don’t want to use that at all,” said the Leinster coach. “We played here in front of empty stadiums in Covid and I would much rather have what we had there today. In no way am I giving out here.”
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He suggested that the timing of the fixture wasn’t optimal for supporters, saying: “There is a reality, a shift. It is outside the norm and we all have our habitual bits to the make-up of our calendar, certain things we do at certain times of the year. We just need to make it more in the public consciousness among people that watch rugby.
“We’ll just keep beating the drum. We are asking supporters to come out here again next Saturday. It is short. We had a two-week lead-in and this is one week, so it is more challenging again.”
Leinster also have some patching up to do. Both Jack Conan and RG Snyman picked up blood injuries while Josh van der Flier left the pitch in the first half with what appears to be a hamstring injury.
“It looked like it was his hammy, that’s the report. So, he felt a bit of tightness again, he was struggling to run it off. Obviously, Scott [Penny] came in there”
In Durban, Munster were seething after what looked like a clear attempt to distract Jack Crowley during the penalty shoot-out of their quarter-final with Sharks.
Munster selected Crowley, Rory Scannell and Conor Murray for their kicks, while the Sharks chose Jaden Hendrikse, his brother Jordan, and Bradley Davids.
I am absolutely devastated for the team, after all that the players had invested in this campaign
— Ian Costello
As Crowley lined up to take his kick, Jaden Hendrikse fell to the ground by the kicking tee, apparently suffering from cramp. The referee then stepped in, forcing Crowley to stop his routine and wait as Sharks medics treated Hendrikse.
Proceedings then ventured into the absurd when television cameras showed the injured player winking as Crowley wandered over. It added to the suspicion that Hendrikse had deliberately collapsed to delay and frustrate the Munster outhalf.
Full credit to Crowley, who maintained his composure to make his second kick, but Davids sealed the win for the Sharks, crushing Munster’s hopes.
Afterwards, Crowley and several of his teammates were fuming. They were seen to remonstrate with referee Mike Adamson and the Sharks backroom team for what appeared to be a blatant piece of gamesmanship. It was reminiscent of Tom Williams winking at the Harlequins bench in the infamous Bloodgate incident from a 2009 Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster.
“I am absolutely devastated for the team, after all that the players had invested in this campaign,” said Munster’s interim head coach, Ian Costello.
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“At the same time, I’m unbelievably proud of the boys, how they stood up against such a good side and that is all the more reason to feel devastated that it had to finish like that.”
The unhappy ending to the match also brought a disappointing close to the Munster careers of Murray, Peter O’Mahony and Stephen Archer.
Costello added: “The last week was very special with everyone wanting to play for them. And to see Conor under pressure nailing that kick at the end. . . they have given their everything for Munster and will be sorely missed.”
Elsewhere, Glasgow beat Stormers 36-18 in Scotstoun Stadium to set up the meeting with Leinster. Bulls beat Edinburgh 42-33, making it an all-South African affair against Sharks in the other semi-final.
