GRAHAM ROWNTREE SAYS Munster will head to South Africa full of confidence as the province look to capture their first trophy since 2011 following today’s thrilling URC semi-final defeat of Leinster in Dublin.

Jack Crowley’s late drop goal proved the difference as Munster ended their miserable run against Leinster with a 16-15 win that sent them through to a URC final date with defending champions the Stormers in Cape Town on 27 May. 

It’s a huge opportunity for a Munster team who, earlier in the campaign, struggled for form in Rowntree’s first season in charge.

“I’ve seen tangible improvements in our game,” Rowntree said.

“I saw that when results weren’t going our way back in the autumn. I had full belief in what I had seen being done in training and the connection the lads had with the coaches.

We are here to win, aren’t we, in this sport. And to get to this far, and to get to a final, we will be gunning for it.”

While Munster came out on top of a thrilling battle, it looked as though they could be left to rue a series of missed opportunities in the Leinster 22. Rowntree acknowledged his team will need to be more clinical if they are to record another famous result in Cape Town.

“Not perfect (today), not perfect. We’ve got to be more clinical. We spoke about it at half-time, we needed to be more clinical near the opposition try-line.

Graham Rowntree during the post match press conference. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

“This is a very good (Leinster) team, regardless of whoever they have out on the field. A very good team. So, we weren’t perfect, but I’m delighted with the fight and the spirit.

“We’re in a final, lads. I said to the group in the week, 25 days ago, we were paranoid about European qualification. Now we are in a semi, now we are in a final.

“Our game is still growing. We are finding out about people. Pete (O’Mahony) spoke really well in the dressing room about this not being our final tonight. We go down to Cape Town with belief.

“We tend to stick in the game. Our fitness is good. Just before the end of the third quarter, I thought we had missed a golden opportunity on the try-line.

“We’ve got to be better near the opposition try-line than we were tonight, but no, (I was) never hopeless.

“This group don’t give in and we have come through some fires in the last few weeks. We go to Cape Town and it will be our sixth away game on the bounce, and that’s when we are finding out about people. We are tough, battle-hardened, so I was never hopeless. This team don’t go away.”

The Munster boss was also full of praise for Crowley, who kicked the match-winning drop goal as the game entered the dying minutes.

“That’s an unbelievable skill, what’s just done under pressure. He practices that most days. The diligence of the kick, he’s practiced that every day after training.”

It all means a Munster team who finished fifth in the URC table are now just one game away from being crowned champions. Rowntree admitted he never looked this far down the line throughout what has, at times, been a challenging first year at the helm.

“It was about winning the next game. It’s a boring headline, isn’t it, from a  pragmatic, old, former Leicester Tiger and England forward. Pragmatic about winning the next game, seeing the improvement, winning the next game. We select game by game. I could see what we were doing in training, I could see it coming through, but it was about winning the next game.”

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