Munster always find a way.
The province live to fight another day this season after a 30-21 win against Benetton at Virgin Media Park, but more importantly they will play Champions Cup rugby next season.
A Champions Cup without Munster would have felt unthinkable, but at half time in Cork this evening it was staring them in the face as they trailed 14-10 against a dogged Italian side, who themselves were fighting for their own place in the play-offs. Edinburgh's comfortable lead over Ulster at the time only added to the sense of unease around Cork.
Their passage was sealed thanks to an emphatic third quarter. While the 8,800 at Musgrave Park had shattered nerves at half time, Munster’s composure was immense, and they hit the away side for 15 unanswered points in the next 20 minutes, with tries for Lee Barron and Thaakir Abrahams, and a conversion and penalty from the excellent Craig Casey putting them into a comfortable lead, from which they kept Benetton at arm’s length.
Jack Crowley had scored all of their first-half points; a try, conversion and a penalty was all they could put together in a very nervy 40 minutes, and they were twice cut open by a dangerous Benetton backline, with full-back Rhyno Smith running in two superb tries.
They couldn’t land those same shots in the second half, and although they did set up a potentially nervy finale with a Bautista Bernasconi try on 68 minutes, Josh Wycherley’s score (below) four minutes later allowed Munster see out the game and book their place in the play-offs.
They’ll find out their opponents on Saturday night. The bonus-point win means they’ll be finishing either in sixth or seventh, away to one of the Bulls, Glasgow Warriors or the Sharks in a fortnight, at least one more outing for Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Stephen Archer, all of whom were given huge ovations on their final Cork game for the province,
Given the stakes, it was a naturally a cagey and jittery opening from both sides, but Munster finally got on the board after 13 minutes when Crowley scored and converted the opening try.
It started from a lineout inside Munster’s half, when the Benetton defence bought a decoy line to allow Tom Farrell plough forward, before Diarmuid Kilgallen carried them into the 22. Michael Milne came close to burrowing over, but Munster pulled it out to the backline, as Crowley waltzed in under the posts, and added the extras to make it 7-0.
The lead didn’t last long. A dominant midfield scrum saw Benetton break down the left wing through Smith, and while Munster’s defence got back to make the tackle, Farrell gave up a penalty, which the Italians kicked to the corner.
From that resulting drive, a neat pass from Nacho Brex sent Smith carving through the middle to touch down under the posts, and Umaga’s conversion tied it at 7-7, with 18 minutes played, although Munster moved back in front straight from the restart, Crowley tapping over a penalty to make it 10-7 after great work from Abrahams and O’Mahony on the kick-chase.
The Italian backline were looking dangerous, and on 27 minutes they once again carved Munster up off a midfield scrum, resulting in another try as Casey slipped off the tackle of Umaga, and the out-half broke clear before playing in Smith, who in ran in from deep for his second try of the game.
The conversion from Umaga sent Treviso 14-10 in front, and they carried that lead into the half time break, and Marco Bortolami’s side were good value for that lead, continuing to frustrate the Munster attack, who were resorting to kicks in behind the gainline to find a way through, none of which could force an error from a well-drilled Italian side.
After a nervous 15-minute break around Musgrave, Munster started the second half hot. A high tackle gave them a penalty to get into the 22, before another penalty saw them kick to the corner, Barron scoring at the back of the maul to make it 15-14 on 43 minutes, although Crowley couldn’t maximise the points with his conversion drifting right and wide.
The out-half soon made up for that on 49 minutes, dropping a perfect crossfield kick into the hands of Kilgallen off a rehearsed move from a midfield scrum, and the wing in turn popped back inside to the sprinting Abrahams, who raced over the line for his side’s third try, and with Crowley seemingly carrying a knock, Casey took over kicking duties to convert and make it 22-14.
The Munster scrum-half nudged his team further in front in the 57th minute, his penalty making it a double-digit lead at 25-14 after some excellent work at the breakdown by John Hodnett.
Crowley was clearly carrying a knock but continued to play on, and on 62 minutes he tried to extend the lead with a dropgoal which missed the target.
Things got nervy with 12 minutes to play when former Munster man Malakai Fekitoa’s kick down the line led to a Benetton lineout within striking distance of the line, and after another penalty followed they mauled their way over for a Bautista Bernasconi try, converted by Umaga to make it a four-point game, 25-21.
Munster quickly swatted aside those nerves though, and when a penalty against Benetton allowed them kick into the 22, a powerful maul was stopped just short of the line before Josh Wycherley’s pick-and-go restored the two-score lead at 30-21, with six minutes to play.
Benetton continued to fight, and a penalty effort from Umaga threatened to get the lead down to one score, but it drifted left and wide to the delight of the Musgrave crowd, as Munster saw out their nine-point lead to advance to the quarter-finals.
Munster scorers: Tries: Jack Crowley, Lee Barron, Thaakir Abrahams, Josh Wycherley
Cons: Jack Crowley (1), Craig Casey (1)
Pens: Jack Crowley (1), Craig Casey (1)
Benetton scorers: Tries: Rhyno Smith (2), Bautista Bernasconi
Cons: Jacob Umaga (3)
Munster: Thaakir Abrahams; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Lee Barron (for Scannell, 32), Josh Wycherley (for Milne, 57), John Ryan (for Archer, 62), Fineen Wycherley (for Kleyn, 74), Tom Ahern (for O’Mahony, 53), Conor Murray (for Crowley, 74), Seán O'Brien (for Farrell, 78), Alex Kendellen (for Hodnett, 57).
Benetton: Rhyno Smith; Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Ignacio Brex, Paolo Odogwu; Jacob Umaga, Alessandro Garbisi; Thomas Gallo, Siua Maile, Simone Ferrari; Scott Scrafton, Federico Ruzza (capt); Riccardo Favretto, Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi (for Maile, 51), Mirco Spagnolo (for Gallo, 64), Tiziano Pasquali (for Ferrari, 67), Niccolo Cannone (for Scrafton, 51), Sebastian Negri (for Favretto, 51), Malakai Fekitoa (for Brex, 51), Tomas Albornoz (for Odogwu, 11), Nicolo Casilio (for Menoncello, 57)
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU).
