Munster's European journey has ended prematurely once again, a 31-21 defeat away to Exeter ending any hopes of a Challenge Cup run while compounding the province’s recent woes.
It’s now a run of just two wins in the last 10 matches for Clayton McMillan’s side, the positivity of securing two bonus points last week in Pretoria quickly falling away in a dire first half at Sandy Park.
Electing to play into the wind at the toss, Munster took on the challenge of the conditions head on. Try to stay in it and hope a more experienced bench dragged the game their way when playing with the wind. By the time Munster had the gale at their back, the game was over.
The home side scored 31 unanswered points in a ruthless first half display. Tries for Ross Vintcent, Henry Slade, Will Rigg and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso blew the game open, Exeter proving good value for their lead. Albeit Munster will be bitterly frustrated that, for the most part, the first half scoring came directly from needless errors.
After the break, the visitors did hit back through Jack Crowley (twice) and Tadhg Beirne, but the damage was done. There was no special comeback, Munster for the rest of the season now focus solely on the battle for the top eight in the URC.
Exeter dominated possession once Frenchman Jeremy Rozier blew his whistle. The intensity of their carries, combined with ferocious breakdown work and lightning ruck ball showed a well-drilled side ready to play.
Munster were called into plenty of early defensive action, much of it good. On the occasion of his 50th appearance for the province, Alex Nankivell somehow found the speed to catch up with wing Paul Brown-Bampoe, denying him a score in the corner with fewer than two minutes on the clock. Ben O’Connor followed up with an athletic stretch to gather a dangerous grubber while - guess who? - Tadhg Beirne killed an early attack with a breakdown steal.
The rearguard was broken, though, on 15 minutes. A lengthy set of phases saw Munster eventually caught short on the left hand side. Feyi-Waboso had the speed to canter into the 22 and could have scored were it not for a strong last-ditch tackle. Vintcent followed up shortly after, crashing onto a short ball once the ball was recycled to open the scoring.
Thereafter, all of Exeter’s points came from waiting for Munster to make a mistake. They were happy to keep bodies away from the breakdown, instead allowing their visitors to play in front of them. A refusal to kick into the wind saw plenty of ball being held onto in midfield. It cost Munster dearly.
On 21 minutes, a swarming defence forced a loose pass. Slade scooped, gathered and sped into the distance. Two-score game.
Past the half-hour, another breakaway try came courtesy of centre Will Rigg. Munster were actually on a rare foray up towards the 22, Nankivell turning scrappy ball into a positive carry. Shortly after, though, Rigg flew out of the line in pursuit of Ben O’Connor’s flat pass. He read it perfectly - another score under the posts.
With the last play of the half, Feyi-Waboso turned his carrying threat into points for himself. Directly off a Munster turnover in midfield, the ball was spun wide. Faced with backrow Kendellen, the England wing had too much pace to get into the 22. Once there, he decided to add more defenders into the equation - presumably just because he could. Three steps later, he too was under the posts. Game over.
After the break, Munster did dominate possession with the wind now in their favour. Error strewn attacks only built frustration, albeit Crowley eventually opened their account on 50 minutes. It was a good decision to go down the short side off a scrum, Exeter giving them a three-on-two which allowed the outhalf to power through Stephen Varney and score in the corner.
Beirne added a second with just over 10 minutes to go, recovering from a huge tackle courtesy of Brown-Bampoe to stay on the pitch and eventually barge over on a short line. Still 17 points behind, it was always a tall order as the clock ticked past 70 minutes.
Too tall, to no one’s surprise. Beirne’s day finished prematurely when binned for a deliberate knock-on. Crowley did add a beautiful late score with a chip and chase under the sticks but it proved to be mere scoreboard padding, putting lipstick on the pig that was a hammering in the English south west.
