A SARRIE STATE
Second-best Munster run ragged as they slip to yet another semi-f inal defeat
JOHANN VAN GRAAN was magnanimous in defeat after his Munster side were outclassed by a powerful Saracens outfit at the Ricoh Arena yesterday.
The visitors battled valiantly throughout a bruising contest in Coventry, but they were eventually overpowered by the Premiership giants.
Tyler Blyendaal’s boot and Darren Sweetnam’s well-taken try kept Munster in the hunt, but a 22-point haul from Owen Farrell and second-half tries from Michael Rhodes and Billy Vunipola ultimately did the damage.
‘The most disappointing aspect is that we lost the game,’ said Van Graan.
‘We came here to win. We were beaten by a better side on the day and they were really good.
‘They put some scoreboard pressure on us and then we got back to 25-6, made it a nine-point game and they turned the screw on us.
‘We played as well as we could. No fault of the players or the management. We did everything we could and well done to the team that beat us and won on the day.
‘They were the better side on the day. There were one or two decisions that went against us. But no complaints from my side.’
It was another sobering loss for the Reds as they suffered a third consecutive defeat at the semi-final stage of Europe.
The gulf in class between both sides was glaringly apparent throughout as the home side’s England contingent of Jamie George, the Vunipola brothers and Maro Itoje imposed themselves on the contest.
Van Graan, however, promised that his squad would return a stronger side for a fresh assault on Europe next season.
‘We weren’t good enough on the day. We got beaten by the better team so no excuses from our side. They’ve been playing some fantastic rugby, both in the Premiership and in Europe. They’ve blown everybody out of this competition at this stage,’ he said.
‘From our side, we gave it all we got. We planned well throughout this whole campaign. There were some fantastic victories and we see getting to another semi-final as a huge positive.
‘We didn’t come here today to lose but in sport a lot of times you’ve got to look your opposition in the eye and as I said to Mark (McCall) afterwards, it was tough up until half-time and then you guys were just much better in the next 30 minutes. You’ve got to concede that you weren’t as good as the opposition on the day.
‘We’ll be back. We’ll be back in Europe next year and we’ll have to get past the pool stage to get into the play-offs again, that will be the first thing.
‘This is a competition we as a club love and a special mention to all of our fans who travel all over the world and back this team through massive wins and games when we can’t get the result. As a club we’ll move forward.’
Munster captain Peter O’Mahony felt his side were right in the hunt at half-time.
Munster trailed 12-9 at the break as the boot of Tyler Bleyendaal – plus a long-range effort from Conor Murray – kept the province in touch. But they were blown off the park in the second-half as Rhodes and man-of-the-match Vunipola powered their way over for the match-clinching tries.
‘They played a lot of rugby in our half,’ said O’Mahony following his side’s 32-16 defeat.
‘They had a lot of ball. We felt good coming in at half-time. It was a difficult half, but three points.
‘We did our homework. They scored a lot of points in the first 20 of the second half and we struggled with them. That was probably the turning of the game. We got back to nine points but gave away a couple of penalties.
‘I’m not saying discipline was the reason we lost; it certainly wasn’t. The areas we conceded the penalties and Farrell is going to knock them over.
‘Eight out of nine (kicks), it’s going to be difficult and it certainly was out there. We aren’t making any complaints. ‘They probably played to their game plan. They are big men and they are hard to stop when they are going forward. ‘You’ve players like Owen (Farrell) and (Alex) Goode pulling strings either side of the ball, so it’s hard to know which direction they are going. Added to the fact you’ve guys like Mako and Billy (Vunipola), guys like (Will) Skelton coming on just giving you momentum which is hard to stop. So that 15 minutes after half-time just felt like wave after wave. They played very well.’
‘WE WERE BEATEN BY THE BETTER TEAM... NO EXCUSES’