CONWAY SAVES REDS IN THRILLER
Reds draw comfort from feisty comeback
HELL of a game, this.
There were moments in this European clash when Munster would have had gladly settled for the draw.
They dominated for long periods of this thrilling contest but Racing, with minimal possession, led for the best part of an hour last night and looked on course to become only the second French team to win at this hallowed ground.
There were positive signs throughout a frantic first half that Munster are evolving under their new attack coach Stephen Larkham. They attacked with pace, intensity and no little invention throughout the opening 40 minutes, but their finishing let them down at crucial moments. Mike Haley was simply superb.
The visitors saw little of the ball but when you have personnel with the vision and talent of Finn Russell and Teddy Thomas, scraps will suffice.
Russell had a hand in two of Racing’s three tries. The Scottish playmaker is a unique talent and he made some big interventions here.
Spare a thought for JJ Hanrahan. Much has been made of Joey Carbery’s absence, but Hanrahan was one of the shining lights for Munster last night and was primed to deliver the back-page stealing moment right at the death when he sat in the pocket only to shank the late drop-goal effort that would have plundered the win. A share of the points is not a disaster but there will be little margin for error, going forward – especially with back-toback meetings with Saracens looming large next month.
The Paris giants were dealt an early blow when their conductor-inchief Maxime Machenaud withdrew at the 11th hour. Teddy Iribaren was not a bad replacement, however.
There was a nice touch from the visitors when they held back to allow Simon Zebo jog onto Thomond Park by himself. This was the Corkman’s first visit to Limerick since he left for the bright lights of Paris.
Ditto, Donnacha Ryan.
The first half went by in a flash. The hosts had the lions share of possession, but it was Racing who surged 14-6 ahead thanks to two moments of genius from Russell and Thomas.
Ryan runs a slick lineout operation and his Racing pack managed to disrupt Munster on three occasions in the first half. One such error allowed Racing to get some much-needed possession deep in enemy territory. After the forwards had made inroads, Russell nutmegged – yes, you read that correctly – Rory Scannell with the deftest of chips before regathering to score under the posts. Russell can blow hot and cold but when he’s on his game, he’s lethal. He stank up the joint against Ireland on that opening weekend at the World Cup, but he was humming here.
Thomas was the next Racing player to leave the Thomond faithful stunned. Zebo made some good inroads before Iribaren released the elusive France. Without breaking stride, Thomas chipped and collected to saunter almost nonchalantly over the line.
Racing were living off scraps but pouncing on every rare opportunity they were afforded, while Munster continued to make all the running. In soccer parlance, the final ball, or final pass in this case, was the problem.
Chris Farrell, Hanrahan, the impressive Haley and Keith Earls all broke the line at various times in the first half but Munster could not land the killer blow. They finished the half like a train and should have had their first try of the night when Hanrahan – not for the first time – broke the line. But a brilliant lastditch intervention from Zebo denied the Kerryman.
No matter, Munster came back for
one last attack and they finally made the breakthrough. Quick hands from Hanrahan and Haley sent Earls into space, and the Munster wing left his former teammate Zebo for dead.
Hanrahan’s conversion drifted just wide but Munster were back in business at 14-11.
There was plenty to admire in the opening 40 minutes with Johann van Graan’s men beating 21 defenders and making six offloads.
Hanrahan’s penalty levelled it up seven minutes into the second half before Russell once again cut a swathe through Munster, dummying his way through Peter O’Mahony and Jeremy Loughman before timing the killer pass perfectly to Juan Imhoff and the Argentine wing cruised under the posts. So clinical.
It took a hell of a lot of guts and toil but Munster eventually got back on level terms when Hanrahan’s skip pass allowed Conway to crash over in the corner with five minutes remaining. Hanrahan’s conversion sent Thomond into raptures.
The scoreboard read 21-21 as Munster went for the jugular.
The bench long emptied, the hosts laid siege to the Racing line. Hanrahan sat in the pocket and waited for his moment but when Alby Mathewson,
on for Conor Murray, teed up the Munster No10, his drop-goal attempt was wide and left of the posts.