The United Rugby Championship has delivered yet again with a shock result last weekend.
Munster nearly lost a game that they were so dominant in. There hasn't been a Munster v Leinster game in some time where they would have felt as dominant as that. If they left it behind them, they’d have been a 'nearly’ team once again. Frustrated fans, frustrated players and coaches without the solutions to the problems.
If Jack Crowley wasn’t so assured in the dying moments of the game, they’d have nearly lost it. Of course, there were many moments on Saturday that led to a one-score game and ultimately gave Crowley the chance to step up for his team, not least the Rory Scannell composure underneath his own posts to slalom his way onto the front foot.
There were moments for and against both sides all game, but the deciding factor was Jack Crowley’s right foot.
You could see the process happening, he disconnected from the game for a few short moments. He actually turned away from play. He took a deep breath, fixed his socks, and started the routine as if it was a goal kick. No messing about. He was confident and assured. Over it went, of course it did. Because that’s the way Jack’s career has gone of late. He wouldn’t expect anything less. It was a given.
But had he slightly skewed it, had he not been as conditioned to go 80 minutes of physical confrontation, knocking his opposite number and World Cup hopeful on his back in the build-up...
Had he done anything millimetres different, we might be speaking of another valiant loss for a spirited Munster team with bags of potential and young talent. Not this time. They got over a very large hump that’s been standing in the way of their development in the last number of years.
It's only one game and it may seem insignificant from the outside, yet the psychological boost that it will give the team will allow them to kick on to greater success.
They’re nearly there, but that can’t be the end for this team, or the story will remain that they almost did it. You don’t almost get your name on a trophy, you do or you don’t.
They’ll remember beating Leinster in Dublin for the first time in several years, but nobody will give them a trophy for that. They must go to South Africa and beat the defending champions if the Leinster victory is going to be remembered as a steppingstone to real success.
Munster haven’t won the league since it was known as the Magners League in 2011, defeating newly crowned Heineken Cup champions Leinster in the final.
Munster’s last chance at winning the league, outside of a Covid disrupted season in 2020, was against Tadhg Beirne’s Scarlets, who got the better of them in the Aviva Stadium in 2017. The Scarlets also beat Leinster in an away semi-final that year before going on to defeat Munster in the final.
There’ll be talk of Leinster and their rotation. That also won’t be mentioned on the trophy if Munster get over the huge challenge in South Africa.
It was almost the perfect execution from Leinster’s coaching team. Not their greatest performance by a long way, it’ll be put down to too much rotation and a lack of cohesion.
They picked a strong squad with enough rotation and opportunity for the best possible bite in their team while leaving off those that would be looking over their shoulder to stay fit for the one they really want to win, a European final against La Rochelle.
Leinster were two points up with a maul in the Munster 22 with five minutes to go. That’s a powerful position to be in during any game, especially a semi-final with a home crowd. That’s the part that will frustrate Leinster. They nearly pulled it off and with their usual strategical execution they would have killed the game. Not by slowing it down, but by getting over the line.
Credit must go to Munster, Rory Scannell, John Hodnett, and others. They turned the ball over and continued to play like they had all game.
This time, under Mike Prendergast, Munster knew they had to do things differently. Nearly changing their game plan wouldn’t work, like it hasn’t done so in the past. Changing the way they play but reverting to type in a semi-final would have killed all the momentum their new coaching staff had created.
Leinster 10-13 Munster: The pressure from Munster finally pays off and Tadhg Beirne bundles over to help them take the lead.
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Instead, they threw caution to the wind and made Leinster’s defence uncomfortable with offloads and a balance in attack that was refreshing to see from Munster in a knockout game. So often we’d be reading the following week about a false dawn and a similar story, but this time it was different.
They haven’t won silverware yet, and it’s a monumental task. However, Saturday stood for a lot within that group and across the province.
Yes, Leinster could have played Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Hugo Keenan, and others. Leo Cullen got it marginally wrong. He nearly got it exceptionally right. It’s a fine line and he was minutes away from getting it spot on.
Munster were without some of their own key men due to circumstances and not decision-making. Fekitoa, Snyman, Nash and Murray were key components of their last few wins.
Diluting Munster’s win by comparing injury lists and non-selection would disrespect what this win means to a Munster squad that have gone through many a tough day in Dublin. It would also disrespect the quality of the Leinster team, which got them to a league semi-final in the first place.
Munster are nearly back to winning ways, but they are one more win from being there.
Watch the Heineken Champions Cup final, Leinster v La Rochelle, on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Saturday from 4pm, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
