Maybe it's time we cut Munster a little slack.
Burdened if also inspired by the deeds of a golden generation, they appear to be judged a tad more harshly than anyone else. No doubt, on foot of another European campaign which has failed to take them to their fifth final, they will be deemed to have come up short once more against the continent’s elite.
Yet there really was no shame in last Saturday’s quarter-final exit by the lottery of a penalty shoot-out. Munster have been involved in some epic, storied wins in this competition’s history but, heavens above, they’ve had more than their fair share of heartbreak as well.
Last Saturday probably took the biscuit. For this time, they didn’t really come up short. They went toe to toe with the five-time winners and reigning champions and were still standing, at 24-all, after 100 minutes of pulsating action.
Yet the records will show they found a new way of exiting Europe in becoming only the second side in the tournament’s history to lose by dint of a penalty shoot-out. Cardiff were the others, losing a semi-final shoot-out at what was then the Millennium Stadium after a 26-all draw against Leicester in 2009.
On that occasion the shoot-out was closer to football’s format, so we had the ridiculous sight of Martyn Williams, the Cardiff flanker, missing their seventh kick before the Leicester number ‘8’ Jordan Crane nailed his. The brilliant Williams should never have been subjected to that indignity.
At least last Saturday's shoot-out was limited to three recognised kickers. The debate will rage as to whether Joey Carbery, like Thomas Ramos, should have taken the more difficult kicks to the right and afforded Ben Healy the relatively easier option to the left, ala Romain Ntamack.
Some supporters and pundits alike might also wonder if Carbery should have been the player to attempt the last-ditch drop goal at the end of extra time rather than Healy.
Yet a more relevant, and bigger, issue might be whether Munster ought have gone through a few more phases to make that drop goal attempt easier had Peter O’Mahony and the more experienced half-backs who started the game still been at 9 and 10.
Certainly Ronan O’Gara was patience personified when encouraging his team to keep going through 40-plus phases before landing the drop goal which sealed their 23-21 win over Northampton in the pool opener ten seasons ago at Thomond Park.
No less than JJ Hanrahan in the drawn match against Racing two seasons ago, one felt for Healy. He could have been the hero so easily.
Carbery, untypically, also missed a couple of penalties, but they turned out to be good misses, as they both effectively led to tries which he helped to create and converted.
There were more annoying reasons for Munster’s painful exit.
A cop out
On another day another referee and his assistants might well have deduced that Rory Arnold's dangerous tackle on Simon Zebo in the 51st minute, with Munster leading 21-14, merited a red rather than yellow card. Yes, Zebo's back hit the ground fractionally before his head bounced off the turf, which merely makes one feel the protocols need fine-tuning as that amounts to something of a cop out.
Luke Pearce did take allowance for Arnold lifting Zebo above the horizontal, but not for the tackle being late, nor for Arnold following through with his shoulder into Zebo's face.
Munster players, coaches and fans alike will forever wonder what might have been had O’Mahony not been forced off in the 64th minute with his side leading 24-14. As against Exeter in the second leg, he was producing another tour de force.
He had taken his tally of turnovers won in the competition to 18, ten more than any other player in the tournament. Ridiculous really. More than anyone, O'Mahony deserved to see out his team to victory and a semi-final against Leinster next Saturday.
To compound his enforced departure, he had been cleared out illegally from the side by Ntamack, but this was missed by Pearce, and from Craig Casey’s ensuing clearance to touch Toulouse scored off the resultant lineout.
Even then there was one more pivotal moment. In the 72nd minute, the great Maxime Medard possibly bade adieu to a wonderful career when he was helped by a medic and substituted player from the pitch, limping heavily and his left leg heavily strapped. At which point Toulouse – a great club with a lot of class in how they conduct themselves – indicated Medard would be undergoing an HIA. This meant that instead of playing the last eight minutes of normal time, and 20 minutes of extra time, with 14 men, Toulouse could replace Medard with the replaced centre Pierre Fouyssac.
That sticks in the craw.
The review will have been a hard watch for Munster, players and coaches like. But the Munster branch, the Munster Supporters Club, the Red Army, and the team, can hold their heads high. They made it into a special occasion, demonstrating that a stadium doesn’t have to be full to have atmosphere and passion and singing. There was also no shame in this defeat.
Real value
On another brilliant quarter-final weekend in this competition, it would have been poorer for their absence. As is usually the case, they added real value and a sense of occasion to the Champions Cup in a way that few others can come close to equalling. They may not have reached a final for 14 seasons now, but there’s honour in that and, like only Toulouse, in reaching 19 quarter-finals as well.
You just hope that the monies accrued from the Ed Sheeran concerts and 65 per cent take from moving the game to Dublin more than offset the estimated €300,000 cost of hiring out the Aviva. Maybe the Munster Branch will reveal the figures. Their supporters deserve that much.
No doubt many will contend that Munster are still short of elite Euro status. Yet they have just put out the European/English double champions of two seasons ago over two legs, and run last season’s European/French double champions to level pegging over 100 minutes.
Okay, maybe Exeter have declined slightly. Maybe Toulouse have too, and Leinster would again have been a bridge too far. Next Saturday will tell us much on that score.
But jeepers, they can’t be that far away.
