Leinster 16
Try: Sexton. Con: Sexton. Pens: Sexton 3.
Munster 13
Try: J Holland. Con: J Holland. Pens: J Holland 2.
Familiarity with each other has ensured that Leinster and Munster have often cancelled each other out, although rarely can one recall this marquee fixture lacking such a sense of occasion and quality. Be that as it may, the repercussions of a typically dramatic and controversial endgame could be significant.
The official attendance of 43,000-plus looked somewhat generous, as usual, given the Aviva Stadium looked some way shy of four-fifths full, and led to some musical interludes and prompts for chanting over the PA system.
The two outhalves, Johnny Sexton and Johnny Holland, scored all their sides' points including a try apiece. It was Sexton's first try for Leinster since one in the Challenge Cup semi-final win over Biarritz three years ago this month, whereas it was the 24-year-old Holland's first try in what was only his third competitive start for Munster.
Botched
Defences were largely on top, particularly in a forgettable first-half, when both sides competed strongly at the breakdown while not taking many risks on the ball. Leinster didn’t help their cause with three botched lineouts, while Munster will rue some of their own decision-making, as well as that of the referee Ian Davies.
The game lacked a high skills’ level and invention, although aside from the excellent Keith Earls on occasion there was some welcome free running by Garry Ringrose, Johnny Holland and Rory Scannell.
In the heel of the hunt though, Leinster’s maul and eventually their defence won them the game. “When it comes to the big games, quite often your defence needs to be rock solid and it is about taking your opportunities,” said Leo Cullen.
Their maul earned them the ascendancy through the binning of Robin Copeland and the lead through Sexton’s try (Leinster’s first in over 260 minutes), but the home side were caught a little cold by the intensity of Munster’s revival, even with 14 men, upon the resumption.
The visitors were taken downfield by the excellent work of two high-quality performers, Conor Murray and Earls, who had the distinction of beating one of Leinster's stand-out players, Isa Nacewa, in the air and on the ground in rapid succession.
Johnny Holland deservedly steered Munster in front by taking Murray’s skip pass flat to duck, straighten and beat the tackles of Sean Cronin and Zane Kirchener, and then land the touchline conversion.
But after a fine break by the eye-catching Ringrose, Munster will rue Francis Saili’s silly concession of a penalty, as well as a missed penalty by Ian Keatley, before Sexton landed another fine penalty.
This was earned by the big-hitting Rhys Ruddock, who, like his blindside counterpart Dave O’Callaghan, relished the game’s physicality. That said, referee Davies did not enforce his 10-second warning by the time Sexton eventually struck the ball.
Filed away
No less than the Munster supporters who filed away from the Aviva Stadium or who watched on screens elsewhere, privately at least though Foley and the Munster coaches must be questioning the decision to replace Johnny Holland with Keatley for the last quarter, not least as the youngster had landed his three kicks, the third of which was that left-footed conversion from the left touchline.
True, Keatley has had generally good outings against Leinster, not least in the corresponding fixture when scoring 21 points, but sure enough the fates conspired to land Keatley with a penalty from 40-metres plus to steer Munster back into the lead within two minutes of his arrival.
He pushed it wide and within five minutes Sexton nudged Leinster in front for the last time with a penalty from a similar angle and slightly longer distance. Foley explained that he preferred giving Keatley a good 20 minute-plus impact rather than bring him on for the last five or 10 minutes, and didn’t feel the miss would affect his confidence.
“Look, if it was in front of the posts, I’d be agreeing with you but it was out on the right-hand side and it was back about 40-odd metres, and in the Aviva the wind does swirl around there. So was it a big pressure kick? The big pressure kick would have been the one with nothing left on the clock. I thought Ian got us into position to win the game and we didn’t do it for various different reasons.”
Late onslaught
Ultimately, Leinster had a well-found confidence in the league’s most parsimonious defence which, even after Cian Healy’s binning for a no-arms tackle, helped them withstand Munster’s furious late onslaught.
They were perhaps fortunate not to finish with 13 men after the streetwise Jamie Heaslip seemed to bring down a Munster maul and then appeared to slow down ruck ball illegally.
Even so, Munster turned down the additional point that would have come from a draw when David Kilcoyne tapped a penalty near the line with the 80 minutes up. This perhaps reflected their more desperate need for league points, as well as the relative lack of experience coursing through this team compared, certainly, to the one of Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara et al.
“We started the second-half poorly there was even a couple of times where we can press a little better in defence,” said Cullen. “I think Kurt [McQuilkin] will look at a lot of areas we can improve on. But yeah, you see the character and the grit at the end where guys are just throwing their bodies on the line and it is fantastic to see.”
SCORING SEQUENCE: 13 mins J Holland pen 0-3; 28 mins Sexton pen 3-3; 32 mins J Holland pen 3-6; 37 mins Sexton try and con 10-6; (half-time 10-6); 48 mins J Holland try and con 10-13; 51 mins Sexton pen 13-13; 64 mins Sexton pen 16-13.
LEINSTER: Z Kirchner; I Nacewa (capt), G Ringrose, B Te'o, D Kearney; J Sexton, E Reddan; J McGrath, S Cronin, T Furlong, D Toner, H Triggs, R Ruddock, J Murphy, J Heaslip. Replacements: R Strauss for Cronin, J van der Flier for Murphy (both 51 mins), M Ross for Furlong, R Molony for Triggs (both 64 mins), C Healy for McGrath, L McGrath for Reddan, F McFadden for Kearney (all 69 mins), I Madigan for Sexton (77 mins). Sin-binned: Healy (77 mins).
MUNSTER: S Zebo; A Conway, F Saili, R Scannell, K Earls; J Holland, C Murray; J Cronin, N Scannell, S Archer, D Ryan, B Holland, D O'Callaghan, T O'Donnell, CJ Stander (capt). Replacements: R Copeland for Ryan (27 mins), M Sherry for N Scannell, D Kilcoyne for Cronin (both 48 mins), I Keatley for J Holland (57 mins), J O'Donoghue for O'Callaghan (65 mins), J Ryan for Archer (73 mins), D Sweetnam for Conway (76 mins). Sin-binned: Copeland (35-45 mins).
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales).
