Matthis try kills Munster momentum
ALL BLACK World Cup winner Jerome Kaino said the key to Toulouse’s success in a thriller at Thomond Park lay in the way they responded just after the interval to book a Champions Cup quarter-final against Clermont Auvergne next week.
Toulouse trailed 16-9 at the break but hit back on the resumption before halfbacks Romain Ntamack and Antoine Dupont inspired them to pull away in the final quarter of a classic encounter which produced four tries for each team.
“For us after half time we had to make sure we started well and we did. We managed to score off the bat. Munster started to get momentum at the end of that first half but we responded,” said the 37year-old double World Cup winner.
Munster may have been vastly improved from their dismal PRO14 final loss to Leinster last week but two tries apiece from Keith Earls and Gavin Coombes wasn’t enough to keep them in the competition.
“It was an incredible game of rugby but they were just too good for us on the day,” said Munster coach Johann van Graan. “Very disappointed to lose a game like that, but once you get a performance like that, I am proud of the team.”
Toulouse failed to make early dominance count nor take advantage of a yellow card to Munster centre Chris Farrell after just three minutes for not rolling away. They led just 6-3 at the end of the opening quarter despite enjoying 65 per cent possession.
Munster’s World Cupwinning centre Damian de Allende was superb in the opening half and the Springbok was key to the two tries scored by Earls.
He held his pass perfectly to send Earls through after 25 minutes and the winger did well to ground the ball despite the best efforts of flanker Selevasio Tolofua. Another broken field attack three minutes later yielded a 21st Champions Cup try in 71 appearances for Earls, with De Allende again the creator with a superb break from deep.
Joey Carbery missed both conversions from the left but added a second penalty before the break after Ntamack had got his third, to take a 16-9 lead into the break.
Toulouse hit back straight after the restart with a superb nine-phase move which ended with an excellent dink from Ntamack and his former French U20 World Cupwinning teammate Matthis Lebel supplied the finish in the left corner. Ntamack landed the difficult conversion to tie the game 16-16.
The Munster response was excellent and, after winning a penalty deep inside the Toulouse 22, they were rewarded for their ambition when they tapped and Gavin Coombes got over after his props Dave Kilcoyne and Stephen Archer latched on perfectly to secure the try which Carbery converted to lead 23-16 after 51 minutes. They were level going into the final quarter after Toulouse captain Julien Marchand drove over after a penalty to the right corner.
Munster hit back and JJ Hanrahan edged Munster back in front with a penalty in front of the posts. But then Dupont took over, starting and finishing the move for the try of the match. He put Joe Tekori away and quick hands through Ntamack, Pita Ahki and Kolbe fed Lebel out wide. He left Hanrahan on the deck with a superb step before sending Dupont through to score.
Ntamack converted and, after missing a penalty from distance, he pushed the lead to 33-26 with five minutes remaining when James Cronin was pinged for going off his feet 25m in front of his own posts.
Any hope of a Munster revival died when Dupont raced through for his second try three minutes from time, with Coombes getting a late consolation try with Clement Castets binned in the 80th minute for not rolling away.