All’s well that ends well, for now anyway. Everyone involved in Munster and their 8,800 supporters in a capacity crowd at Musgrave Park on Friday night could exhale in unified relief after the nervy 30-21 win over Benetton earned them a place in the URC playoffs and, perhaps more importantly, next season’s Champions Cup. Having survived, now they hope to thrive.
The other immediate spin-offs were that Peter O’Mahony and Stephen Archer, as well as Conor Murray, could sign off their Munster careers at home with a win and then conduct on-field post-match interviews before An Taoiseach Micheál Martin could visit a winning dressingroom.
“It means everything,” said interim head coach Ian Costello. “We had Micheál Martin in to congratulate the lads and that was a cool boost. Peter asked him to fix the road again, he’s not letting that one go!
Benetton had looked the slicker, more dangerous side in the first half, and led 14-10 at half-time. But Munster regrouped during the interval, upped their physicality in the collisions, played in the right areas of the field and got their lineout maul rumbling.
‘I have vaginismus and I’m afraid I’ll never find a man who doesn’t pressure me’
Why has the German economy gone from Europe’s engine to its anchor?
Mark O'Connell: I have an almost gluttonous appetite for irony, but this is too rich even for my tastes
Domhnall Gleeson on nepo babies: ‘I’ve been so lucky. It’s important you can acknowledge it. Otherwise you’re lying to yourself’
A catch-and-drive try was followed by a long-range finish by Thaakir Abrahams, providing some badly needed X-factor, and an emotional standing ovation for O’Mahony. Munster then responded in kind to Benetton’s maul try with a second of their own on a tense, balmy night in Cork.
“I don’t know how to sum it up properly,” admitted Costello, “but when you get a balance of having such a deep purpose, so much care for each other and you go out in the second half and you can execute … it’s such an incredible blend.
“The performances the last couple of weeks were about showing how much we care for each other, how much we care for the lads who are leaving.
“I think in any sport that’s important, particularly rugby that is so physical. When you want to give every ounce of yourself to respect your team-mate who has given everything for the club for so long … that’s deep, that connection and deep purpose was huge for us the last few weeks.
“When you see it come together in the second half, it’s a powerful blend.”
Results elsewhere on Friday resolved the make-up of the top eight, with Edinburgh’s 47-17 win over Ulster at Hive Stadium securing a place in the playoffs and next season’s Champions Cup, with the Scarlets joining them thanks to Cardiff’s 34-24 loss against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Munster sit sixth, and as things stood overnight would be on course to face Glasgow away the weekend after next in a repeat of their quarter-final en route to winning the URC title two seasons ago.
If the Scarlets win against the Sharks in Durban (kick-off 6.30pm) the Welsh side could overtake Munster and leave them facing the Bulls in the quarter-finals. However, if the Sharks win and Leinster beat Glasgow, Munster would stay sixth and face a trip to Durban in a fortnight.
Leinster are guaranteed top seeding and as things stood overnight were in line to host the Scarlets in the quarter-finals. But if the Welsh region earn even a bonus point against the Sharks, they would move above Edinburgh by dint of having won more matches, and in that scenario Leinster would be at home to the Scottish region. Munster are just glad to be there.
Costello admitted that the over-riding emotion was “definitely a lot of relief” and added “that’s what real pressure looks like.
“We knew we needed to win, we also knew a draw could be no good; three points wouldn’t be enough. I suppose you’re trying to focus on the flow of momentum in the game and that’s what changed. There was positive on top of positive moments, and we wrestled back momentum.
“Mike [Prendergast] talked at half-time about collisions, and being a bit bigger to get back and punch on to the ball, and that made a big difference. We turned them a bit more and that was one of the key conversations at half-time, to turn them, and we mixed up our short kicking game, and our lineout maul was outstanding tonight.
“When you need to wrestle momentum back, our forwards were outstanding, and Codders [forwards coach Alex Codling] has done an unbelievable job this week. They’ve been under a little bit of scrutiny, but it was fantastic tonight.
More than any team in the playoffs, Munster have been in knock-out mode for the last fortnight and can draw on plotting an away route all the way to the title two seasons ago.
So when he was asked what Munster could achieve now that the pressure of qualifying for the Champions Cup had been removed, Costello answered: “Anything.”
He has never stopped believing and returned to a familiar theme when stressing: “We’ve got a healthy squad and a competitive squad and we said it throughout the whole season: when we’re close to full strength, we feel we can go toe to toe with any team, whether it’s at home or on the road.
“We’re going to enjoy a few days … I won’t lie, we need to take a breather and come down after it, and then have 10 to 12 days to build up to a quarter-final wherever it might be.
Jack Crowley had been wincing from before half-time with a rib injury and ultimately passed over the kicking duties to Craig Casey, but the fortnight respite ought to be helpful, and likewise for Niall Scannell after being removed for an HIA and not returning.
“He’s good,” Costello said of Crowley. “He injured his ribs, so it’s a question of managing pain. What a warrior tonight. He was outstanding, and even when we were taking him off he still wanted to stay on.
“Credit to him, and he was complemented by Craig Casey who took over some of the kicking duties. Those two are so important to the team on and off the pitch.
“I just thought from a quality point of view tonight they were excellent.”
