Entering the final quarter, and just as Munster were threatening to take control, Donnacha Ryan could be seen berating his Racing teammates. Munster then having taken the lead for a second time courtesy of a huge 75th-minute penalty, it was Ryan who chased down the restart by Rémi Talès for fully 30m to earn the penalty with which the unerring Maxime Macehnaud restored Racing's lead for the final time.
Ultimately, on his 50th European cap (the first 49 having been for Munster), no one had done more to deny Munster than their former teammate, who afterwards was sharing a beer in the Munster changing-room while decked in a swapped Munster jersey – Keith Earls’ somewhat figure-hugging No 11.
Munster head coach Johann van Graan had just finished talking to Ryan for the first time before addressing the media. “He and I just had a chat inside after in the cloakroom. He’s a fantastic guy, a Munster guy, a world-class player. If you just looked at the hype around him all week, we knew that he’s a big moment player, and that last one there on the touchline, that was a pretty big moment for a look to chase that after 75 minutes. Pretty special.
“I think that’s the beauty of rugby, you could see the respect all the players have for him when he got into the changing room. I think it’s mutual respect. Some of their coaches also came in, and that’s why I’m in rugby. For a massive battle outside, and we would love to get that four or five points, but we didn’t win that last five minutes, but at the end of the day it’s a game and we love to be part of it.”
CJ Stander added: “Yeah, it was good to have him in there. Look, he’s a tough man. He knows exactly what we do, so he made it a bit difficult for us. I think he played a great game. I think that kick-off he caught at the end of the game was exceptional. It just shows what a tough player he is. It was good to see afterwards in the changing room and have a chat with him, and see how life is here for him. It looks like he was certainly enjoying it.”
Pivotal moment
The Racing flanker, Yannick Nyanga, was another to cite that pivotal restart take by Ryan. “He brings a lot of experience to us, because we have a lot of talent in the team but not a lot of experience, we are learning,” said Nyanga, which seemed rather at odds with his and his team’s age and caps profile.
“When you have a player like Donnacha, he’s a huge addition to the team, and if he wasn’t here I don’t know if we would have won the game. We’re happy to have him in our side and not theirs. His French is getting better – it’s not perfect yet but it’s getting better. He talks a lot and he acts a lot. His actions speak louder than his words and you want to follow him.”
As for Racing’s decision to opt for a 78th-minute penalty at goal rather than gamble on going for a fourth try, Nyanga reflected: “It’s hard with five minutes to go. We could have put them four points away so they had to score a try; it’s different to a point where they could get a penalty and then it’s over for us. We were thinking, but it happened fast, and we’ll see after the game against Leicester if it was a good decision or not.”
Wild game
It had been a roller-coaster game Nyanga said: “It is always a wild game against Munster, because they never release the pressure, they’re very resilient. We knew from before, we played well when we went there, but we lost by seven points. It’s a team that never gives up. It’s a good thing to win against them. If we qualify next week, we will be hard to beat.”
Next season, of course, they will have another Munster man in their ranks in Simon Zebo.
Nyanga, laughing, suggested it would be easier for Zebo. Simon speaks a bit of French. I know him from some parties.”
“When you see the game he played today, he’s an exciting player to have in your side. We look forward to having him. He’s a fast player; he likes to pass the ball and jump in the air. With all the good players we have, he’s a good addition.”
