Schoeman rush of blood excused
EDINBURGH head coach Richard Cockerill refused to point the finger at a moment of madness by prop Pierre Schoeman for their Heineken Champions Cup defeat.
Edinburgh were about to be given a penalty just inside the Munster half with 10 minutes left. Then Schoeman had a rush of blood and took Tadhg Beirne out off the ball, which meant referee Pascale Gauzere reversed his decision.
The Irish outfit kicked to the corner and Keith Earls went over just over a minute later for the winning try.
Cockerill, when asked if it was their lack of experience and discipline that cost his team, replied: ‘They are tiny parts of it. It’s the difference in the referee, it’s the bounce of the ball.
‘It’s a bit of discipline from Pierre Schoeman at the end and we are kicking a goal and we are six points up and we win the game. That’s life.
‘I’m not going to criticise Pierre, because he’s a committed fellow and he does what he does and I’ll back him to the hilt. But those are the way things fall sometimes.
‘Munster are a good team and they find a way to win and we’ve got to do the same.’
As for the first Munster try, when it looked like Conor Murray took out Henry Pyrgos in the build-up, he said: ‘I need to watch again. Look, Munster won the game, so they deserved to win. It was a great game of rugby and one hell of a contest.
‘Tiny margins decide these things like the penalty with Pierre that gets reversed, a lineout that gets overthrown and bounces their way and in the ensuing play they score.
‘We had opportunities to score in the first half we didn’t take. We had some massive moments in the game defending our own line. So I’m proud of the performance, but clearly disappointed with the end result.’
Cockerill was angry with Andrew Conway getting away with taking out Darcy Graham — Edinburgh’s best player — at a crucial moment in the game.
‘It’s a yellow card,’ he said. ‘He’s in the air, he’s competed for the ball, the referee actually says that he grabs the player in the air and he lands on his back. It’s a yellow card. Sorry, you can’t choose to referee those things differently.’