ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING VISIT to the Aviva Stadium, a fourth straight loss to Leinster and another defeat on the road this season, Munster must have returned south on Saturday evening wondering how they left this one behind. 

Johann van Graan’s side were understandably aggrieved by a number of refereeing decisions which they felt went against them, and the visitors were certainly hard done by during a frenetic inter-pro with plenty of niggle and controversy.  

Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

All the pre-match talk had centred on the key battles at out-half and up front, but it turned out the match was won — and indeed lost — down one channel as Keith Earls endured a tough day at the office, and James Lowe proved to be the match-winner.

21 of Leinster’s 30 points came down Earls’ side, and that’s hardly a reflection on the Ireland winger, who, like Lowe, was involved in both of the game’s big talking points, which left van Graan and Munster fuming at referee Ben Whitehouse.

Firstly, Earls was adjudged to have tackled Lowe fractionally early as the Kiwi looked to open the scoring from Jamison Gibson-Park’s offload inside, and Whitehouse dished out a double punishment, as Leinster seized an early 14-0 lead.

And then, the match-defining moment which amounted to a crucial 14-point swing.

Earls appeared to have cut Leinster’s lead to just one score with a breakaway try at the start of the second stanza, but was denied a pivotal try by what was a questionable call, as the officials called it back for a Leinster penalty. The hosts duly took the opportunity, and their good fortune, to strike through the dangerman Lowe.

Munster, for all their efforts and they certainly threw everything at Leinster only to be kept at arm’s length, eventually left empty-handed after Stephen Archer’s needless block on Fergus McFadden allowed Ross Byrne stretch the hosts’ lead to eight points.

Still, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance for van Graan, as his side dominated possession and territory and showed good ambition with ball in hand, the likes of Dan Goggin, Sammy Arnold and Andrew Conway lively and energetic throughout.

“Most definitely,” the South African said, when asked if it was his side’s best away display of the season. “Like I said to the team, a loss is never good enough and we came here to win tonight and we expected from ourselves to win. That’s what we aimed for and we came up short.

“But there’s such a lot of positives from this game. The guys were heads up in there, obviously very disappointed for such a big game and such a brilliant occasion. As a guy coming from a different country I was so proud of what was delivered out there tonight.

“Unfortunately we are pretty disappointed with the result but to answer your question, a massive amount of positives and now coming up against a pretty decent opponent next week and a team that we’ve got a lot of respect for and also in brilliant form. So that was a good test for us tonight.”

The physicality and intensity of the work-out may not have yielded any rewards in the shape of Pro14 points, but ahead of the start of the Heineken Champions Cup next weekend, it was a valuable outing for Munster.

Inpho / Billy Stickland Inpho / Billy Stickland / Billy Stickland

Van Graan’s men open their Pool 2 campaign with a daunting trip to Premiership high-flyers Exeter Chiefs on Saturday, and will need to be at their best if they are to avoid a fourth straight away defeat of the season.

“Improve our discipline, and convert our try-scoring opportunities that we created,” he said of the areas his side need to improve on from Saturday. “That’s why we’re actually so happy and excited about our attack. I think it was out there for all to see, even away from home, to come up with that and to actually test the opposition. 

“The brilliant thing is that there is a brand new competition starting on Monday, there are four teams in our pool and I know them, and everybody knows each other.

“And I found out last year that these six games [in Europe], you need to approach each one as a knock-out game and we’ll do that accordingly, and it’s certainly a game we are very excited about.

“We have a massive challenge. Not a lot of teams have gone down there [Sandy Park] and got a win.”

Van Graan revealed his coaching staff have been closely studying Leinster’s back-to-back victories over the Chiefs in the pool stages last December, as they try and formulate a game-plan to raid fortress Sandy Park.

“You’ve got to defend really well there. You’ve got to figure out the wind there. They’re a team that when they’re against the wind, they just keep the ball, and keep the ball, and keep the ball. We know their maul is going well and even in the game last night, even though they’re close they can just punish you.”

“And I’ve said in the pre-season they’re close to the best attacking side in the world. We know exactly what they do. It’s in their DNA. They’ve come a long way as a club. Last year they were also in a pretty difficult pool, and they got knocked out by the eventual champions [Leinster]. So we know it’s going to be a massive game for us.

“We’re under no illusions about what challenge awaits, but that’s the beauty of Champions Cup rugby. We’re one of quite a few teams in this competition who’ve got big dreams, and this competition starts on Monday, and what a great competition to look forward to.” 

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!