Will to win the biggest plus for Van Graan

JOHANN VAN GRAAN hailed his side’s ‘will to win’ after Munster ground out a 9-7 victory last night.

The hosts struggled for possession and territory against an organised and aggressive Exeter Chiefs outfit, with three Joey Carbery penalties proving the difference as Munster sealed top spot in Pool 2.

‘It will definitely not go down as the prettiest game of rugby but we had a chat at half-time and had to adapt our plan,’ said Munster’s head coach (left), who was taking a pragmatic approach.

‘From our point of view, when the dust settles, we’ll wake up looking forward to a quarter-final.

‘That was the goal – getting out of the pool. ‘We had to adapt our kicking game in the second half. I thought our maul came into the game in the second half.

‘That (lineout) steal from Billy (Holland) on the try-line was a momentum shift.

‘I have spoken about the will to win and all 23 showed the will to win tonight.’

Meanwhile, Exeter boss Rob Baxter was left to reflect on another pool exit from Europe, despite a valiant display from his side in Limerick.

‘I’ve very proud of how we fought today,’ he said. ‘We kind of ticked all the boxes we wanted to get right this week and it hasn’t quite forced the result and we knew to get the result there were a few things that we’d have to deal with.’