Champions Cup: Munster 33 Stade Français 7
Munster’s bonus-point victory on foot of a five-try salvo provided a perfect opening to their Champions Cup campaign, a win facilitated appreciably by Stade Français who lost their secondrows Pierre-Henri Azagoh and Baptiste Pesenti to two red cards in a four-minute spell early in the second half.
The first was bang to rights for a dangerous swinging arm, the second carelessly reckless rather than malicious. The home side did not really need much assistance, but they punished each of those transgressions by tagging on a try each time, the excellent Alex Kendellen followed by Tom Farrell.
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At that point Munster led 14-0. Tries from man-of-the-match wing Thaakir Abrahams and fullback Shane Daly putting them if not in control, then a sizeable way to where they wanted to go. Peter O’Mahony was outstanding, a standout in everything he did from the set piece to a marauding presence in attack and defence.
The pack were excellent to a man, Craig Casey and Jack Crowley – he made light of the conditions with brilliant placekicking – controlled the game intelligently while Abrahams and Alex Nankivell were the pick of a backline that all chipped in with some decent cameos.
Stade Français showed flashes of good rugby but despite having enough possession they could not get out of their own way at times, never mind the fatal lapses in discipline.
Munster started quickly, nice hands provided Alex Nankivell with the angle on the defence and when he accelerated through the gap and linked with Thaakir Abrahams, a try looked on, but the wing hesitated for a split second, caught between passing to Shane Daly or going for broke and when he decided to do the latter, the Stade defence were able to ground him from behind.
The home side retained possession, hammered away at the line but having been awarded a penalty and kicked it to touch, the Parisian club were able to hold up the maul and turnover possession. Undaunted Munster soon back on the attack and Calvin Nash was very unfortunate not to be able to regather his beautifully weighted grubber kick, the ball eluding several hands in the Stade in-goal area.
When Nash went off for Head Injury Assessment (HIA), Jack Crowley went to fullback and the first thing he did from a scrum was force a 50/22 with a gorgeous kick. Munster won a penalty, kicked to the corner and from the maul Craig Casey put Abrahams over in the corner: sharp vision and execution. Crowley kicked a superb conversion from the touchline.
Munster were offered a couple of warnings about being loose in their handling, Stade rightwing Charles Laloi a lively and elusive character. But for the most part the French side were largely blunt when faced by a resolute home defence.
Nankivell received a yellow card for a high shot on Lucas Peyresblanques, who departed for a HIA and the first thing that his replacement Luca Petriashvili suffered was having his lineout throw picked off by O’Mahony who had made an imperious start to the game.
The home side made the most of the reprieve, Abrahams won an aerial tussle brilliantly and when the ball was moved wide, Shane Daly chipped over the defence, nudged the ball forward and won the footrace; a proper way to celebrate his 100th cap. Crowley again converted to make it 14-0.
Nankivell returned and the home side thought they had a third try but loosehead prop Dian Bleuler was held up over the line. The field position had originated from another O’Mahony moment of quality, this time a long punt out of defence that when touched in flight led to a Munster scrum five down the other end of the pitch.
Munster easily contained Stade’s dominance of possession early in the second half and then might have scored a third try following O’Mahony’s lineout steal and lovely inter-passing with Abrahams down the wing, Fineen Wycherley was grounded just short, and Yoan Tanga forced a penalty turnover.
However, at the behest of the TMO Andrew Jackson, Luke Pearce reviewed footage and sent off Pierre-Henri Azagoh for a swinging arm to the head of O’Mahony as the Munster flanker passed the ball. The home side exacted the maximum revenge when Alex Kendellen barged over from the lineout.
Crowley converted. Stade then suffered a second red card, the other secondrow Baptiste Pesenti culpable when he turned Casey upside down before returning him to earth on his back. It was a stupid act which Pearce adjudicated as a sending off offence.
Once again Munster made the visitors pay, working an opportunity for centre Tom Farrell to canter over for the bonus point try. Crowley converted to make it 28-0. Munster’s interim head coach Ian Costello had emptied most of his bench and, perhaps distracted, the home side gave up a try to Clement Castets, which Zack Henry converted.
To their credit the 13-men of Stade Français showed admirable character forcing Munster to scramble around in defence near their own line but it was the home side that enjoyed a final flourish with a try from Gavin Coombes to round off a satisfactory night.
Scoring sequence - 15 mins: Abrahams try, Crowley conversion, 7-0; 29: Daly try, Crowley conversion, 14-0. Halftime: 14-0. 49: Kendellen try, Crowley penalty, 21-0; 54: Farrell try, Crowley conversion, 28-0; 58: Castets try, Henry conversion, 28-7; 78: Coombes try, 33-7.
Munster: S Daly; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, T Abrahams; J Crowley, C Casey; D Bleuler, D Barron (capt), J Ryan; E O’Connell, F Wycherley; P O’Mahony, A Kendellen, G Coombes. Replacements: B Burns for Nash (HIA) 12-24 mins; N Scannell for Barron 50 mins; T Beirne for O’Connell 50 mins; S Archer for Ryan 56 mins; J Hodnett for Kendellen 56 mins; P Patterson for Casey 59 mins; J O’Donoghue for O’Mahony 59 mins; K Ryan for Bleuler 69 mins; B Burns for Abrahams 69 mins; Casey for Daly (HIA) 77 mins.
Yellow card: A Nankivell 24 mins.
Stade Français: J Jonas; C Laloi, J Marchant, P Boudehent, S Ezeala; Z Henry, T Motassi; C Castets, L Peyresblanques, F Gomez Kodela; P-H Azagoh, B Pesenti; P Huguet, R Chapuis (capt), Y Tanga. Replacements: L Petriashvili for Peyresblanques 24-34 and 59 mins; S Turagacoke for Tanga 51 mins; J Martin Scelzo for Jonas 51 mins; A Timo for Huguet 60 mins; L Foursans-Bourdette for Motassi 73 mins; L Carbonel for Ezelea 73 mins.
Red cards: Pierre-Henri Azagoh 48 mins; Baptiste Pesenti 52 mins.
Referee: L Pearce (England).
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