Munster have been pitted with an unwelcome Champions Cup last 16 tie away to the Sharks in Durban a fortnight after the Six Nations. They were on course to face Edinburgh in the Scottish capital until a 75th minute try by Saracens’ Ben Earl restricted the Scottish side to a 20-14 win, so meaning the Sharks finished third in Pool A and will now host Munster.
“It’s a challenge, we like a challenge at this club at the moment,” said Munster head coach Graham Rowntree. “If you’re going to win this competition you’ve got to go places and win games like this.
“What we are proving is that we’re got form on the road, so I’m already looking forward to it. Week by week, I’m honestly thinking about a tough Treviso game next week. We’ll make it work.
“We’ve Glasgow on the 25th [of March]. We’d probably look to get to Durban on the Tuesday or Wednesday. In and out, smash and grab. We’re going to be seeing a lot of them.”
Leinster will face Ulster at the Aviva Stadium in the last 16 after their maximum 20-point haul at the expense of Racing 92 while Dan McFarland’s side finished eighth in Pool B after beating Sale on Saturday.
The full last 16 draw is: Leinster v Ulster, Sharks v Munster, Exeter v Montpellier, Saracens v Ospreys, Leicester v Edinburgh, Stormers v Harlequins, Toulouse v Bulls and La Rochelle v Glasgow.
If Leinster beat Ulster, they would be at home to either Leicester or Edinburgh, while Ulster would be away to the winners of that tie should they progress.
Were Munster to win in Durban, they would face either Toulouse away or the Bulls at home in the quarter-finals a week later. Munster are then due to face a two-game trek to South Africa to face the Stormers and the Sharks again.
The possibilities facing Munster come kick-off were so varied that Rowntree admitted they “wore me out”, and even after their 20-16 defeat in Toulouse they could have faced any one of four different opponents pending the Edinburgh-Saracens outcome.
But this tie was a stand-alone Champions Cup match in its right, and while “gutted” by the defeat, Rowntree was also proud of the manner they responded to an early Toulouse onslaught and an 11-0 deficit to ultimately outscore the home side by two tries to one.
“Not many teams come here and do what we did, recover from an early setback and find a way to stay in the game. We did some good things around our set-piece, stopping their power game.
“We’ll have a look some things we can do better, particularly with Ben Healy in the bin in that last 10 minutes there, in terms of relieving pressure. We were being a bit ambitious where we were playing on the field but we’ll look at that. It’s part of our learning but our game’s growing.
Reflecting on a run of six wins and three narrow defeats by Toulouse (twice) and Leinster, he said: “We’re tough to beat. That’s the bedrock of what I want us to be in terms of our DNA. I’m really pleased with how we’re going. But then you come here and we could have won that. So gutted.”
Munster’s second try, conceived from halfway with an array of offloads which would have befitted Toulouse and the product of pure heads up rugby, ultimately finished off by Tadhg Beirne to nudge them in front, is the latest example of what this squad is endeavouring to achieve.
“Not bad that, was it? It’s not off the training ground, it’s just rugby smarts, that’s skill level. I’m proud of the lads for doing that.”
After Mike Haley suffered a nasty sprain which is likely to rule him out of the Benetton game next Saturday, Malakai Fekitoa was introduced for a strong debut and Jack Crowley shifted to full-back, before Ben Healy replaced Joey Carbery after the latter’s second missed conversion.
“I think tactically it’s a real comfort to have the likes of Ben (Healy) and Conor (Murray) available over here. Predominantly our selection is based around form and tactics. It felt right to have Ben and Conor involved today, and it was the right thing to do at the time.
“We don’t have a grand plan over substitutions. It’s ‘feel’, in the moment, in discussions between the coaches.”
With Healy in Scottish camp this week, although available for the “massive game” away to Benetton, at least Carbery’s exclusion from the Irish squad means he will be with Munster all week.
“He’s grown as a player,” Rowntree said of Carbery. “He was disappointed last week, rightly so. He’s been exceptional at training, he drives the group and he’ll learn from that. It will strengthen his game, I’ve got nothing but praise for the kid. I like working with him. He’s around this week as well, it’s handy for us going to Treviso.
“I can’t speak highly enough about how he’s dealt with that disappointment and that’s when you learn. It’s a moment you have to get through and he will get through it.”
The Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola acknowledged that while their second seeding could ultimately see them earn home ties in the last 16 (against the Bulls) and quarter-finals, they could then be on course to face Leinster in the Aviva at the semi-final stage for the second season running.
“It’s tailor-made [for Leinster] to embroider the fifth star,” said Mola. “But everybody expected Leinster to beat La Rochelle in the final last year and look what happened.
Leinster and Ulster have met twice before in this competition, with Leinster winning the 2012 final at Twickenham by 42-14, and in the quarter-finals at the Aviva Stadium in March 2019 when Ross Byrne’s late penalty sealed an epic 21-18 victory.
All eight URC teams qualified for the knock-out stages, including all three from Ireland and South Africa, as well as one each from Wales and Scotland, along with five English and just three French clubs. Despite winning their first three matches, Connacht’s defeat in Newcastle has resigned them to a tough last 16 tie away to Benetton, who have only lost once in Treviso this season.
HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP
Round of 16 – 31 March-1/2 April
R16 1: Leinster Rugby v Ulster Rugby
R16 2: Exeter Chiefs v Montpellier Hérault Rugby
R16 3: Cell C Sharks v Munster Rugby
R16 4: Saracens v Ospreys
R16 5: Leicester Tigers v Edinburgh Rugby
R16 6: DHL Stormers v Harlequins
R16 7: Stade Toulousain v Vodacom Bulls
R16 8: Stade Rochelais v Gloucester Rugby
NB The four highest-ranked clubs in each pool have home advantage
Quarter-finals – 7/8/9 April
QF 1: Winner R16 1 v Winner R16 5
QF 2: Winner R16 7 v Winner R16 3
QF 3: Winner R16 2 v Winner R16 6
QF 4: Winner R16 8 v Winner R16 4
NB The highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home advantage
Semi-finals – 28/29/30 April
SF 1: Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
SF 2: Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4
NB The matches will be played in Europe and the highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home country advantage
2023 Heineken Champions Cup final: Saturday May 20th; Aviva Stadium, Dublin
