14-man Munster make it a red letter day for fallen hero Foley
MUNSTER produced a performance which would have made their head coach Anthony Foley so proud on a day of raw emotion at Thomond Park.
The capacity crowd of 26,600 witnessed a performance which was typical of Munster as they somehow produced an awesome display just a day after their coach and former captain was buried.
“It was a difficult week, a very difficult week,” said Munster’s CJ Stander, who wore the No.24 shirt after Munster retired the No.8 one in Foley’s honour. “We wanted to produce a display to honour him, to play the way he wanted us to.”
A passionate day ended with Foley’s two young sons, Tony and Dan, joining the Munster squad on the field at the end as the crowd stood to applaud them off the field.
It was a remarkable sight at the end of a week of grief for the side which has probably contributed more than any to this competition.
“It was a fitting tribute to Anthony by Munster but we didn’t show up,” said Glasgow boss Gregor Townsend. “We’re disappointed in that. We prepared well, but we didn’t defend well. We were individuals and Munster were a team.”
It was always going to be a difficult day for Glasgow Warriors and the task facing the Scots multiplied as a fired-up Munster side raced into a 14-3 lead after just 13 minutes.
The stadium erupted when Tyler Bleyendaal crossed after five minutes and, as they continued to dominate, Jaco Taute also crowned his first Champions Cup game with a try.
However, just at the end of the opening quarter Munster winger Keith Earls was red carded for a tip tackle on Glasgow hooker Fraser Brown, leaving referee Jerome Garces with little choice but to send him off.
But Russell missed the penalty and Munster, now fired-up even more, extended their lead after 29 minutes when a superb inside step by Rory Scannell created the opening, with Simon Zebo somehow remaining out of touch despite Stuart Hogg’s tackle before touching down his 16th European try.
Warriors, despite the extra man, couldn’t get their hands on the ball but they butchered a good opportunity just before the interval when Rob Harley was called back after a forward pass from Russell to leave it 24-3 at the break.
Munster got the bonus point after 46 minutes with a penalty try after three massive scrums from the dominant home pack.
Townsend’s men got over for a brace of tries in a fourminute spell to raise hopes of leaving Limerick with at least a point.
Pat MacArthur got over for the first of them off a good lineout drive and Mark Bennett eventually finished off a break from deep to cut the gap to 14 points.
But Munster finished in style when centre Rory Scannell finished their fifth try in the left corner and Ian Keatley added the extras.