If you’re not coaching it, you’re allowing it. So goes the old American Football maxim when it comes to repeated patterns of mistakes. Against Connacht at the start of the campaign, Munster gave up two tries inside the first 20 minutes. Against Zebre, it was two inside the opening 26. Job one in Croke Park against Leinster surely had to address that state of affairs.
And yet Munster started here as if they were somehow surprised by Leinster’s out-of-the-gate ferocity. They had to know that the best team in the competition were going to be coming for them with total shock and awe from the off but still they looked caught unawares by it.
From the moment Caelan Doris demolished Stephen Archer three minutes in to start the move that ended with James Lowe’s opening try, Munster were back-pedalling at speed at every turn. On a huge night in front of a massive crowd, Leinster met the moment in a way that Munster so obviously did not.
It wasn’t just that Leo Cullen’s side were so much more physical than Munster. It was that they were urgent and insistent, in a way that gave Munster no chance to catch their breath or clear their heads. When Lowe took a quick tap-and-go near the Munster line on 11 minutes, Munster were in disarray having lost back-to-back lineouts on their own throw.
Soon after, with his side already 0-14 behind, Jack Crowley ran back to collect a loose ball in the Munster 22 and looked up to see a blue tsunami about to break over his head. He didn’t so much get swallowed up as fed through a Leinster branded wood-chipper. Lowe led the charge and completely manhandled the Ireland outhalf, forcing a penalty for holding on.
In all fairness, you couldn’t really blame Crowley for the concession. He was on his own, his support slow arriving and might well have given up a try had he not hung on for dear life. But what was really notable wasn’t the fact that Leinster were there in such numbers, it was that Munster weren’t. What did they think was going to happen?
As it was, Crowley only delayed the inevitable. Ciaran Frawley kicked the penalty to the corner, Leinster worked a play from the lineout and Huge Keenan danced over without a red finger being laid on him. The clock hadn’t even hit 15 minutes yet and already the game was over.
Munster got their sea legs under them eventually and actually outscored Leinster 12-5 over the rest of the game. But Leo Cullen’s side are hard enough to beat when you match them stride for stride for 80 minutes. It’s impossible when you give them a head start. It’s a habit Munster need to kick, sharpish.
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