MUNSTER TORN TO SHREDS
Dream becomes nightmare as Rassie Erasmus and his men prove no match for supercharged Scarlets
THIS was not the way it was supposed to end, Munster falling well short of completing their commendable mission of honouring the memory of the late Anthony Foley by winning the Pro12 title in Dublin.
It was mid-October, 32 weeks ago, when the province awoke to the trauma of their head coach’s sudden death in Paris. However, rather than let tragic bereavement ruin their season, they instead fought through to the last week of the club season and were looking to round it all off in trophy-winning style.
However, hopes of securing a much-desired Aviva Stadium triumph, which would have been fitting tribute to a fallen comrade who worked with them in the opening half-dozen fixtures of their 24game league campaign, were ripepd apart in just 30 damp Dublin minutes, four-try Scarlets jumping 29-3 ahead. There was no way back from
‘We didn’t do anything that wrong, this is where we are’
there for crestfallen Munster.
Not since May 2011 had the province last held a trophy aloft, a silverware drought that is their most barren run in the professional era, but there was no argument last night that they must wait at least another year to bridge that gap, Scarlets emphatically following the lead set in recent seasons by Glasgow and Connacht by become firsttime Grand Final winners (the league was a first-past-the-post tournament when they won in 2004).
The warning signs were there as the Welsh region had been flying, losing just once in the league in 2017, coming from behind to beat Munster in Limerick in February and then embarrassing Leinster at the RDS in last week’s semi-final despite having just 14 players for 42 minutes.
However, they performed to another level again here and the punishment meted out to Munster illustrated how qualifying for the decider as the top-ranked side was no guarantee of success, Rassie Erasmus’ team becoming the fifth table-toppers in eight seasons to fail to go on to be crowned champions via the play-offs.
‘We weren’t good on the night and they were excellent in various aspects of the game,’ Erasmus (right) admitted. ‘They put a lot of pressure on at the breakdown. It was almost the same as happened to Leinster. Overall, a great performance by them, very average performance by us in a big, big game.
‘If you look at the tries they were just unbelievable, a lot of speed and skill. We turned the ball over for them to score but for them to finish so sharply and clinical, they deserved this game. Even from last week playing with 14 men, they just stepped it up.
‘You could see they were a team that really believed in one another, that understands one another and really believes in the way they are coached. If you are a little bit off your game they punish you like they did. No excuses,’ he continued, trying to make sense of the club’s second final loss in three years and a sobering end to his own first year in charge, this latest showpiece non-performance unfolding in front of a record 44,558 attendance for a Pro12 final.
‘If we could do the week over I would do the same (to prepare). It wasn’t overly emotional, it was really focused on a lot of analysis which we got wrong on a lot of stuff and they just executed really well on the day.
‘We didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe this is just where we are. This is a team that has gone through a lot this year in various stages on and off the field and tonight was one step too far, but we have grown.’
Skipper Peter O’Mahony, who joins up with the Lions today in London along with fellow Munster men Conor Murray and CJ Stander, still felt a second-half comeback was possible despite trailing 10-29 at that juncture.
‘The try before half-time gave us a bit of belief. We spoke how our fitness was good and how we could stick to the plan because that had been working all year. I absolutely believed we could get back in the game, but once you get to 55 minutes you’re struggling to chase a lead like that, especially conceding a penalty that took them four scores ahead.’