No fairytale ending for Munster as Erasmus and his men are blitzed by super Scarlets in Aviva romp
Scarlets’ fever sweeps away opponents in Aviva romp
THIS was carnage for Munster, a supposed 50/50 contest done and dusted with just 30 minutes gone. They insisted in the build-up how they had learned the lessons of their 2015 league showpiece setback, how they would not be over-emotional and vulnerable to the same sort of calamity that was their early capitulation to Glasgow in Belfast.
However, this surrender was even worse, four tries – not just the three the Warriors had managed in that opening half-hour 24 months previously – were leaked, a punch-drunk Munster left a humiliating 26 points in arrears after their defence fell asunder wide on the right, the exiting Francis Saili rounding off his uninspired stay at the club with an uninspired footnote.
They briefly rallied, Tyler Bleyendaal converting his own try by the posts in the closing minute of a dreadfully one-sided first half, but that riposte was no foundation stone for a miracle comeback.
No argument, they were well beaten, the Scarlets back row dominating proceedings, and the outcome was a painful reminder of how sport is no hostage to story book finishes, the opening half-hour exploding notions that Munster would secure the trophy to salute the memory of the late Anthony Foley and also send the long-serving Donnacha Ryan off on his French leave as a winner. Instead, it all fell to pieces similar to the way Paul O’Connell’s farewell two years ago was a match that brutally fell flat.
There will be surprise at how seriously flaky Munster’s defence was, an uncharacteristic weakness under the baton of specialist Jacques Nienaber that left them suffering this bruising hammering, but there should be no surprise at the result itself, Scarlets stylishly demonstrating that their 14-man semi-final ambush of Leinster was no fluke.
Every chance they got they gave the ball width despite the greasy conditions, playing to a strength Munster couldn’t match in a duel billed as an even battle of wits between Welsh potency against Irish defence. It was no contest.
Bad enough losing a final to leave them still trophy-less since 2011, the manner of this grave loss will also call into question what sort of hang-up Munster have about playing at the rebuilt Aviva Stadium. This defeat was their eighth in nine matches at the venue since it reopened in 2010 and their third this season alone following toothless losses to Leinster in the October derby and Saracens last month in the European semi-final.
Incredibly, the embarrassing rout started promisingly, CJ Stander bundling Liam Williams into touch with what was suggested to be a tone-setting physical intervention that was followed by the province doing something they have done excellently all season, winning penalties off an opposition scrum.
Bleyendaal snapped up the seventh-minute invite, but that was as good as it got, Munster blown away in the following 20-plus minutes by a sumptuous brand of running rugby assisted by too many Irish errors cheaply turning over ball.
The rot started with the off-colour Stander deemed to be infringing off his feet at a ruck on his 22, and the ensuing advantage witnessed Scarlets exploiting space in the manner they had done so all through 2017 where they were beaten just the once in the league.
Rhys Patchell looked up and sent in a sweet kick towards the corner that was fastened onto by Liam Williams who easily beat Keith Earls in the chase. The try-creator missed the conversion but he landed a 19thminute penalty that was following by an extraordinary three-try blast in 11 minutes that would have been four had Gareth Davies not inexplicably knocked on with the line at his mercy.
The catalyst for the collapse, which wasn’t defensively helped by Rory Scannell going off earlier for a HIA, returning and then exiting again, was the ruck turnover after a Dave Kilcoyne carry, the ball spinning loose and snaffled on the floor by Samson Lee.
That set in train the counter sweep across the Welsh side’s 22 that cheaply broke the cover of Saili and resulted in Simon Zebo being made a fool of as Jonathan Davies twice exchanged passes with the scoring Steffan Evans, the winger whose red card versus Leinster was rescinded in mid-week, freeing him to star in the decider.
Davies’ mishap soon followed, failing to grasp the pass from his namesake James, but he was on the money minutes later, Saili again found wanting as Scott Williams breezed by to set up the move from their own half that was finished by the scrum-half.
Patchell added the extras and the kicker did likewise after former Leinster lock Tadhg Beirne stormed over off the attack that stemmed for the five-metre scrum conceded when Munster were forced over their line following Earls’ initial tidy up operation. Munster were shattered, trailing 3-29 and looking out on the feet, but they did muster a spirited pre-interval response, Bleyendaal snatching his converted try to cut the gap to 19. That would have prompted chat in the half-time dressing room that a miracle comeback was possible.
However, that was rendered idle talk five minutes after the restart, a Patchell penalty pushing the margin to 22, killing a game that only sprang to life again in the closing 10 minutes, DTH van der Merwe and James Davies touching down either side of consolation tries from Andrew Conway and Earls to seal a deserved 24-point win.