A brace of Ian Keatley penalties was all Foley’s side had to show for 80 minutes of attacking endeavour at Welford Road.
“We thought we should have won last week and we’ll probably go away from this (game) thinking we probably should have won, but the fact is we didn’t,” said Foley following his side’s 17-6 defeat.
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“Why didn’t we? We’re not scoring, we’re not being ruthless in that area of the pitch and, if we continue to do that, it’s going to be hard to win games if you’re not scoring.”
At 10-6, Francis Saili intercepted a wayward Leicester pass in his own 22 and raced away for what seemed like a match-turning moment.
Leicester’s outstanding full-back Telusa Veainu showed incredible pace to chase down the Kiwi centre before Adam Thompstone hauled down Simon Zebo, who was on hand to take the resulting offload.
Zebo was subsequently penalised for holding on by referee Jerome Garces, but the officials missed an obstruction by Veainu on Keith Earls during Saili’s breakaway.
“We talked about it in the coaches’ box,” Foley explained.
It was a big moment in the game. We had a lineout just inside their 22 and the ball flew around there and we managed to get out. They got a scrum and, from there, we managed to keep pressure on him and Francis made a great break.
“Unfortunately, things happen and one of our players wasn’t with him that should have been, but… the action on the ground, we need to look after the ball better. We need to make sure that, no matter what, that ball comes back to us because that’s a massive moment in the game.”
Ultimately, it was Munster’s ball retention and composure in Leicester’s red zone which cost them over the past fortnight.
“I’m just very annoyed at the way we turn over ball. How loose we are around it,” added Foley.
We worked so hard to get into positions to create opportunities and then we just let it go. It’s as simple as that.
“You want to make the opposition work hard, make them defend, make another tackle and we didn’t seem to do that at stages.”
Munster must be ruthless in Europe - Foley
ANTHONY FOLEY ADMITS his current Munster squad must develop a “ruthless” streak if they want to become a serious competitor in Europe.
Over two legs against a powerful and efficient Leicester side, Munster dominated territory and possession but struggled to build pressure on the scoreboard.
A brace of Ian Keatley penalties was all Foley’s side had to show for 80 minutes of attacking endeavour at Welford Road.
“We thought we should have won last week and we’ll probably go away from this (game) thinking we probably should have won, but the fact is we didn’t,” said Foley following his side’s 17-6 defeat.
“Why didn’t we? We’re not scoring, we’re not being ruthless in that area of the pitch and, if we continue to do that, it’s going to be hard to win games if you’re not scoring.”
At 10-6, Francis Saili intercepted a wayward Leicester pass in his own 22 and raced away for what seemed like a match-turning moment.
Leicester’s outstanding full-back Telusa Veainu showed incredible pace to chase down the Kiwi centre before Adam Thompstone hauled down Simon Zebo, who was on hand to take the resulting offload.
Zebo was subsequently penalised for holding on by referee Jerome Garces, but the officials missed an obstruction by Veainu on Keith Earls during Saili’s breakaway.
“We talked about it in the coaches’ box,” Foley explained.
“Unfortunately, things happen and one of our players wasn’t with him that should have been, but… the action on the ground, we need to look after the ball better. We need to make sure that, no matter what, that ball comes back to us because that’s a massive moment in the game.”
Ultimately, it was Munster’s ball retention and composure in Leicester’s red zone which cost them over the past fortnight.
“I’m just very annoyed at the way we turn over ball. How loose we are around it,” added Foley.
“You want to make the opposition work hard, make them defend, make another tackle and we didn’t seem to do that at stages.”
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Adam Thompstone Anthony Foley Ian Keatley Keith Earls missed opportunity Munster Simon Zebo Leicester Tigers