Warriors just too late
Townsend’s men almost snatch victory, but defeat puts play-offs out of reach, reports John Fallon
THE Gregor Townsend era at Glasgow looks like fizzling out after a late rally failed to secure the win they needed to keep their Pro12 semi-final hopes alive.
The Warriors came with a late surge which almost snatched victory but in the end they were unable to snatch the win they craved.
Glasgow, having only won three times away to Munster, needed a solid start to lay down a marker but they found themselves 7-0 down after just six minutes having been turned over as they tried to clear their lines.
Glasgow’s efforts to alleviate the danger after a five-metre scrum on their own put-in were thwarted when Munster out-half Tyler Bleyendaal was instrumental in executing a superb turnover.
Glasgow initially dealt with the forays by Munster but the pressure eventually paid off when former All Black Francis Saili and ex-Springbok Jaco Taute, starting together in the centre for the first time, combined and while Darren Sweetnam was stopped inches short, the ball was recycled for loosehead James Cronin to squeeze over.
Bleyendaal added the extra points from the left but that was one of his final actions before going off after suffering a knock.
The exchanges were tough throughout and Glasgow suffered a double blow with the loss of centre Alex Dunbar hooker Fraser Brown.
Six Nations player of the tournament Stuart Hogg came more into proceedings to get Glasgow moving and it took a good tackle from Munster full-back Andrew Conway to deny Lee Jones down the right wing at the end of the opening quarter.
Glasgow did not help their cause with some sloppy handling after creating good openings with centre Nick Grigg knocking on before the break just when it seemed they would finally crack the home defence.
But neither side could find a way through before the interval and they turned around with the game hanging in the balance.
Munster drafted in captain Peter O’Mahony shortly after the restart following an impressive debut from South African Jean Deysel, with try-scorer Cronin limping off to be replaced by Dave Kilcoyne.
The bounce of the ball was all that stopped Munster increasing their lead in the first attack of the half but Sweetnam’s chip hopped away from Conway with a clear run to the line.
Glasgow struggled to clear their lines and while Rory Scannell was stopped short, television match official Neil Hennessy spotted that Jack O’Donoghue did not return to his feet before touching down and the danger was cleared by a penalty for the Scots.
Glasgow knew their season was on the line in the final half-hour and they valiantly tried to go wide in an effort to open a Munster rearguard which was rock solid.
The game was regularly stopped as referee Nigel Owens consulted with the TMO, with Munster scrum-half Duncan Williams be- ing pinged for a neck grab after a good break by Conway had set up a promising position for Munster.
The capacity home support of 8008 produced one of the biggest cheers of the night when Donnacha Ryan, bound for Racing 92 in the summer, was introduced for what is likely to be his final action in a red jersey in Cork.
Munster were sure they had wrapped up the game after 57 minutes when Williams and Taute combined to send top try scorer Ronan O’Mahony away to the line but a combined tackle from Tommy Seymour and Ali Price did enough to ensure the winger was not in control of the ball as he tried to touch down and the score was disallowed after another intervention from TMO Hennessy.
The reprieve was short-lived for Glasgow as Munster, largely through the efforts of the excellent flanker Conor Oliver, won a penalty on the Warriors’ put-in on the five-metre scrum and Rory Scannell made no mistake with the penalty from the left.
That left Glasgow with an uphill battle to salvage their season. They were given a lifeline 11 minutes from time when a chip from Hogg bounced unkindly for Conway and the Warriors full-back collected to score, with Finn Russell converting and suddenly it was 10-7 but that was as close as Warriors got to salvaging their season.