Munster still riding wave of emotion as they return to the scene of tragic loss

RACING 92 MUNSTER

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CJ Stander paid tribute to the hard work of the late Anthony Foley and his fellow Munster coaches after their Champions Cup bonuspoint victory over Racing 92.

Munster returned to Stade Yves-du-manoir, where their first-round fixture was originally postponed in October due to Foley’s tragic death.

The Irish province have hit a rich vein of form with nine wins in ten competitive outings since then, climbing to the top of the Guinness PRO12 and Champions Cup Pool 1 in the process.

While acknowledging that they have been riding that wave of emotion, Stander – the man who wears Foley’s No 8 shirt and who delivered another man-of-the-match performance in Paris – was quick to praise the work done behind the scenes by Foley and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

“We always keep this emotion in the back of our heads, but we’ve been working hard from pre-season onwards. We have good structures, Axel left a lot of what we’re working on, how we want to play,” said Stander, pictured.

“Our coaches, Rassie, Jacques [Nienaber], Fla [Jerry Flannery], Felix [Jones], have got good plans and we just want to go out on the pitch and play for them.

“Coming back to Paris after his death, you talk about it, the emotion of it, and it catches you again.

“You try to hide it, but it’s into you and everyone’s in the same boat. I think we’ve been dealing with it quite well the last few weeks.”

Hooker Niall Scannell’s 56thminute try sealed the bonus point for Munster, adding to first-half efforts from Simon Zebo, Stander and Andrew Conway which had established a 25-0 halftime lead.

Racing had a consolation score from flanker Matthieu Voisin with 17 minutes remaining. They fielded a much-changed team as they were already out of contention for the knockout stages,

Munster, in contrast, are flying high.