Embarrassing exit as 15 boys of Munster fail to trouble 14 men
MUNSTER will receive very little sympathy in France with how they were dismantled, given how many French sides have had a similar experience in Thomond Park.
But while the result was one thing, the manner of the secondhalf capitulation will aggrieve everyone associated with the province. At 13-0 going into half- time, I thought this game was gone already, but Josaia Raisque’s red card gave Anthony Foley’s team a bit of hope against 14 men in the second half. For most of the match, however, it proved to be 14 men against 15 boys.
The physicality of some of the French players, no more so than the sensational Sekou Macalou, along with Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, Paul Williams and Jonathan Danty, was too much for Munster.
The Macalou and Bonneval tries backto-back was real carcrash TV. CJ Stander, who had been Munster’s leading light with his strong carrying and work on the ground, was swatted aside by Macalou, before Foley and Keatley put in half-hearted efforts and Keith Earls let a back row run around him in a fashion that showed a dying spirit within the Munster camp.
Success in Europe was always about how Munster came back once they had been knocked, and yes, they did once yesterday with Conor Murray’s try — but as they say, a dead cat also bounces.
That was the embarrassing part but the game was really won in the first half after Stade had injected some tempo into proceedings.
Kilbride made a fatal error in being the outside man and getting slightly ahead of Mark Chisholm, which invited Williams in on that line. It is vital when you are stretched in defence that you are always behind the shoulder of the inside defender, so you don’t open a route like Munster did for Williams’ try.
Just when things started going bad, Keatley’s radar was way off with his kicking and his defence folded, perhaps because he shipped a bad knock. All the good work against Ulster is now history.
Trying to see some positives, Munster had to fight losing the impressive Tommy O’Donnell, as well as Andrew Conway and BJ Botha early on. They also had a try disallowed for a marginal forward pass at a pivotal time – in any case Ronan O’Mahony should have really been penalised for holding onto the ball beforehand.
Perhaps the biggest positive to take here is that Munster can take on Stade at Thomond next week — at least let’s hope that is a positive. EVEN with three runner-up spots available in the new European format, Ulster’s erratic selection against Oyonnax today is risky.
Irish player management, player rotation, not rating the Oyonnax side and Les Kiss being less than amused by his players’ performance last week are some of the reasons cited for the changes.
Ulster’s game management was chaotic against Munster and the seismic change at halfback looks a reflection of this. Out of that chaos comes opportunity for the exciting Paul Marshall and Ian Humphreys.
They are a very different pairing to Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Jackson. Marshall is the sharpest running halfback in Ireland with startling acceleration. This has led him to many supersub roles off the bench once the game has broken up.
His Achilles’ heel has been his game management when starting for Ulster and his decision making will be paramount in the early stages today.
Humphreys is another kettle of fish. On his day he can put his esteemed brother David in the shade, however, more frequently than not it is Hail-Mary time.
He possesses great acceleration when running and pinpoint accuracy with his boot when confident. He has great vision and reacts well to what is occurring around him but he desperately needs comfortable front-foot ball.
Humphreys is an old-school No 10 when it comes to the physical side and if getting sloppy slow ball then the ‘off switch’ can be flicked early.
Stuart McCloskey is the perfect counter balance for Humphreys to carry dead ball and put Ulster back on the front foot. His defence allied to Chris Henry inside Humphreys is also important to guard the No 10 channel. Expect a lot of choke tackles around here.
There is also plenty of running and skill outside Humphreys in the form of Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy and the exciting centre Sammy Arnold on the wing.
But all matches in France must be won up front first. Ricky Lutton has a big job to lock the Ulster scrum.
More importantly, with Maurie Fa’asavalu, ex-Ulster man Pedrie Wannenberg and Pierrick Gunther in the experienced Oyonnax back row, the visitors need to be much more effective clearing out the breakdown.