Match action - starts Page 8
OWEN Farrell was determined not to leave the Aviva Stadium as a loser for the second time this season, and the Saracens fly-half put England’s Grand Slam flop behind him to guide the reigning champions to a second successive European Cup final with a comprehensive victory over Munster.
Farrell embellished an immaculate six out of six goal-kicking performance with a wicked grubber to set up the Chris Wyles try 11 minutes from time which doused the Munster fire. The Irish side were cheered to the rafters by the red army which had taken possession of the ground, but ultimately they could not find a way past the defensive barrier this exceptional Saracens side erected in this European semi-final.
The Munster revival sparked by the tide of emotion following the death earlier this season of their head coach, Anthony Foley, meant that they never lacked for spirit. However, although their tactical kicking and superior aerial skills unsettled Saracens in the first half, the clattering defence and close-quarter power of the English club eventually proved too much.
Having taken a 6-3 lead into the second half despite Munster’s monopoly of possession and territory in the opening 40 minutes, Saracens turned up the pressure. It did not take long before this yielded a scoring opportunity, with Sean Maitland and Alex Goode carving out space on the outside for Chris Ashton – only for Goode to put his pass too far behind the winger.
Moments later Saracens squandered another chance when, after Mako Vunipola had flattened Peter O’Mahony, a pickand-go through the middle of a ruck by George Kruis saw the England lock lose the ball as he stretched for the line one-handed.
However, Saracens refused to release their grip, and after Michael Rhodes had scragged CJ Stander at the back of a Munster defensive scrum to force a poor clearance from Tyler Bleyendaal, they had the pressure point they wanted.
From a lineout catch by Kruis ten metres out, the Saracens driving maul surged to the Munster line, and when Schalk Brits laid the ball back a quick pass by Richard Wigglesworth gave Vunipola sight of the line. The loosehead duly smashed through the tackles of Keith Earls and Andrew Conway for the opening try of the match, and Farrell’s conversion put Saracens 13-3 ahead.
Despite Duncan Williams giving a gritty display as deputy for the injured Conor Murray, there was a growing sense that the Saracens pressure was getting to the Munster half-backs. This was highlighted when the normally reliable Bleyendaal missed the chance to narrow the gap with a straightforward penalty attempt just before the hour.
When the boot was on the other foot minutes later when the dominant Saracens scrum squeezed a penalty out of the Munster pack, the deadly Farrell made it 16-3.
With the match slipping away Munster threw the kitchen sink at the English side, but their limited route one attacking strategy was easily read – and the European champions had the muscle, with the Vunipola brothers, Kruis, Rhodes, Maro Itoje and Vincent Koch to consistently knock them backwards.
Saracens are also very adept at counter-attacking once they have battered their opponents to a standstill, and that was the method they employed in the build-up to Farrell sliding through the diagonal grubber which saw Wyles and Simon Zebo in hot pursuit. When Zebo was unable to hold it, Wyles grabbed the bounce just before the line, and with the help of Schalk Burger, the winger forced it down despite Bleyendaal’s attempt to get underneath.
With Farrell converting and kicking a penalty soon afterwards, Saracens were out of sight at 26-3 with six minutes remaining. There was a last show of resistance when Stander forced his way over in the penultimate minute. But although Ian Keatley converted, as Munster rugby director Rassie Erasmus conceded afterwards, the gap between the teams was clear.
It was a tough pill for Munster to swallow, because they went into this match buoyed with the kudos of being the best defensive side in Europe – but in the first half Saracens gazumped them there as well. Although the Irish side hammered at them in the opening exchanges, even knocking them backwards at an early scrum to take the lead through a Bleyendaal penalty, it was Saracens who looked the more incisive.
They should have taken the lead when, with only ten minutes played, a flowing move involving Billy Vunipola, Wigglesworth, Marcelo Bosch, Ashton, Goode and Maitland outflanked the Munster defence. Instead, the try went begging when Wigglesworth was unable to hold Maitland’s unsympathetic pass with the line wide open, and they had to rely on a Farrell penalty to level the account at 3-3.
Munster had another potential trump card when Jackson Wray was yellowcarded for a high tackle on Williams, which appeared harsh given that the scrumhalf slipped into the tackle.
However, the steel-trap Saracens defence went into overdrive and Munster were unable to make the 14 men concede any points.
No sooner was Wray back on the pitch than Saracens turned the screw at a scrum, from which Farrell’s penalty gave them their half-time advantage.
After the break they pressed that advantage home ruthlessly, and the defending champions will present the winner of today’s other semi-final between Clermont and Leinster with a formidable challenge in Edinburgh next month.