IN THE 57th minute of Munster’s Champions Cup clash with Saracens on Saturday, Fergus Burke sized up a drop-goal attempt and pushed his kick wide of the posts.
The English side led 9-3 at the time so had Burke nailed his effort, Saracens would have moved into a two-score lead with just over 20 minutes left to play.
After the game Munster’s interim head coach Ian Costello admitted he felt it would have been difficult for his team to pull Saracens back had the visitors managed to move beyond a seven-point lead, and credited some massive defensive sets while Sarries were 6-0 and 9-3 ahead.
Those defensive efforts were crucial to a big Munster win, but the game flipped between the 59th and 64th minutes as the province struck for two well-taken quick-fire tries.
With 58 minutes on the clock, Munster are awarded a penalty around halfway following Alex Lozowski’s high tackle on Rory Scannell. Munster opt for the corner and Jack Crowley executes a good kick to push his team well into the 22.
The next passage of play includes some important contributions from the Munster bench – with Tom Ahern, Stephen Archer, Diarmuid Barron and John Hodnett all introduced early in the second half.
Barron’s throw at the lineout is good and Fineen Wycherley gets up to claim possession, before delivering the ball to Hodnett on the ground. Hodnett then passes to Rory Scannell and keeps moving as the centre carries into contract, with Hodnett’s clearout helping ensure Conor Murray can step in to deliver quick ball.
Tom Farrell and Murray are the next two players to get hands on the ball but both come under pressure from the Saracens defence. When Murray carries to ground, Gavin Coombes steps in as scrum-half and passes left to Barron.
Barron also goes left to Tadhg Beirne, and the Munster captain does well to juggle the ball and avoid a knock-on. Coombes is again on hand to take possession and blasts through a gap to bring Munster right up to tryline.
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Coombes had made only three carries up to that point but comes up with a powerful charge which leaves his team primed to pounce.
Munster have been let down by their accuracy in the final five metres recently but make no mistakes here. From close range, loosehead Dian Bleuler launches himself forward to score the game’s opening try and finish a clinical, patient passage of attack which started with Barron’s lineout throw 33 seconds earlier.
Crowley eats up every bit of his 60-second time limit for the conversion, but splits the posts to send Munster one point clear and into the lead for the first time on the night.
Munster come under pressure again after that score. They take possession from the Saracens restart but are soon defending a lineout on the 40m. Saracens win the lineout cleanly and move the ball across the pitch before Elliot Daly kicks in behind, where Shane Daly is in position to collect the bouncing ball. The Munster winger’s lengthy clearance kick sends Saracens right back into their own half.
Munster push up the field and initially defend well before Saracens opt to box-kick. Mike Haley gets under the ball but knocks it on for Munster’s 16th handling error of the game.
It’s a frustrating moment but one Munster follow up with more good, determined play.
With the Saracens attack going nowhere, Elliot Daly looks to blast another kick through but Shane Daly is in the right position again, and manages to control the ball with his foot before launching his own kick back into the Saracens half.
As Nick Tompkins chases back to take possession, Ahern (near the bottom of the below clip), makes a huge effort to sprint up the pitch and put pressure on the Saracens centre.
Tompkins quickly puts boot to ball with Ahern closing in fast. The Waterford man is right on top of Tompkins by the time the centre gets his kick off and it lands straight into the arms of Munster winger Calvin Nash.
Twenty-four seconds later, Munster would be celebrating their second try.
Nash gets the ball rolling with a purposeful carry, before Beirne does similar in a more central position.
By this point Munster have identified space on the far wing and Murray plays the ball inside to Crowley, who clips a crossfield in the direction of Rory Scannell. The centre shows good awareness to quickly release a pass back inside to his midfield partner Farrell.
Farrell then draws in two Saracens defenders by clevely delaying his pass to Hodnett, who comes onto the ball on a smart line and cuts inside the first defender to race home and score.
It’s an excellent finish by Hodnett. The flanker has plenty of work to do but shows good feet to beat the first tackle and then keeps possession despite being ankle-tapped to ground before getting over the line.
Crowley’s conversion moves Munster into a 17-9 lead. Hodnett’s try arrives with 63:58 on the clock – four minutes and 12 seconds after Bleuler’s try.
The province would need a couple more big defensive plays to see the match out but Saracens only manage to add one further penalty, with that clinical second-half spell turning the game for Munster.
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The 5-minute spell that saw Munster turn Saracens game on its head
IN THE 57th minute of Munster’s Champions Cup clash with Saracens on Saturday, Fergus Burke sized up a drop-goal attempt and pushed his kick wide of the posts.
The English side led 9-3 at the time so had Burke nailed his effort, Saracens would have moved into a two-score lead with just over 20 minutes left to play.
After the game Munster’s interim head coach Ian Costello admitted he felt it would have been difficult for his team to pull Saracens back had the visitors managed to move beyond a seven-point lead, and credited some massive defensive sets while Sarries were 6-0 and 9-3 ahead.
Those defensive efforts were crucial to a big Munster win, but the game flipped between the 59th and 64th minutes as the province struck for two well-taken quick-fire tries.
With 58 minutes on the clock, Munster are awarded a penalty around halfway following Alex Lozowski’s high tackle on Rory Scannell. Munster opt for the corner and Jack Crowley executes a good kick to push his team well into the 22.
The next passage of play includes some important contributions from the Munster bench – with Tom Ahern, Stephen Archer, Diarmuid Barron and John Hodnett all introduced early in the second half.
Barron’s throw at the lineout is good and Fineen Wycherley gets up to claim possession, before delivering the ball to Hodnett on the ground. Hodnett then passes to Rory Scannell and keeps moving as the centre carries into contract, with Hodnett’s clearout helping ensure Conor Murray can step in to deliver quick ball.
Tom Farrell and Murray are the next two players to get hands on the ball but both come under pressure from the Saracens defence. When Murray carries to ground, Gavin Coombes steps in as scrum-half and passes left to Barron.
Barron also goes left to Tadhg Beirne, and the Munster captain does well to juggle the ball and avoid a knock-on. Coombes is again on hand to take possession and blasts through a gap to bring Munster right up to tryline.
Coombes had made only three carries up to that point but comes up with a powerful charge which leaves his team primed to pounce.
Munster have been let down by their accuracy in the final five metres recently but make no mistakes here. From close range, loosehead Dian Bleuler launches himself forward to score the game’s opening try and finish a clinical, patient passage of attack which started with Barron’s lineout throw 33 seconds earlier.
Crowley eats up every bit of his 60-second time limit for the conversion, but splits the posts to send Munster one point clear and into the lead for the first time on the night.
Munster come under pressure again after that score. They take possession from the Saracens restart but are soon defending a lineout on the 40m. Saracens win the lineout cleanly and move the ball across the pitch before Elliot Daly kicks in behind, where Shane Daly is in position to collect the bouncing ball. The Munster winger’s lengthy clearance kick sends Saracens right back into their own half.
Munster push up the field and initially defend well before Saracens opt to box-kick. Mike Haley gets under the ball but knocks it on for Munster’s 16th handling error of the game.
It’s a frustrating moment but one Munster follow up with more good, determined play.
With the Saracens attack going nowhere, Elliot Daly looks to blast another kick through but Shane Daly is in the right position again, and manages to control the ball with his foot before launching his own kick back into the Saracens half.
As Nick Tompkins chases back to take possession, Ahern (near the bottom of the below clip), makes a huge effort to sprint up the pitch and put pressure on the Saracens centre.
Tompkins quickly puts boot to ball with Ahern closing in fast. The Waterford man is right on top of Tompkins by the time the centre gets his kick off and it lands straight into the arms of Munster winger Calvin Nash.
Twenty-four seconds later, Munster would be celebrating their second try.
Nash gets the ball rolling with a purposeful carry, before Beirne does similar in a more central position.
By this point Munster have identified space on the far wing and Murray plays the ball inside to Crowley, who clips a crossfield in the direction of Rory Scannell. The centre shows good awareness to quickly release a pass back inside to his midfield partner Farrell.
Farrell then draws in two Saracens defenders by clevely delaying his pass to Hodnett, who comes onto the ball on a smart line and cuts inside the first defender to race home and score.
It’s an excellent finish by Hodnett. The flanker has plenty of work to do but shows good feet to beat the first tackle and then keeps possession despite being ankle-tapped to ground before getting over the line.
Crowley’s conversion moves Munster into a 17-9 lead. Hodnett’s try arrives with 63:58 on the clock – four minutes and 12 seconds after Bleuler’s try.
The province would need a couple more big defensive plays to see the match out but Saracens only manage to add one further penalty, with that clinical second-half spell turning the game for Munster.
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Analysis Champions Cup clinical Munster Rugby