Munster’s late attempt at miraculous comeback just fails

Bordeaux Begles 47, Munster 29

THE dream of a place in the semi-finals of this year’s Investec Champions Cup drifted away today for Munster. Without a doubt the French side deserved their victory but for one five minute spell between the 67th minute and the 72nd, the impossible beckoned. Trailing 29-10 at half time, the visitors needed to score first as the second half kicked off and they were rewarded when Andrew Smith touched down but Jack Crowley missed the conversion on 51 minutes. Matthieu Jalibert kicked a penalty to bring the score to 32-15 but soon after coming Tom Aherne was shown a yellow card. When Bordeaux increased their lead to 37-15 and Jalibert had popped over a penalty kick, it looked as if Munster had thrown in the towel. With Kendellen now in the bin, his side were awarded a penalty try with 13 minutes remaining and this was followed by another seven pointer, Andrew Smith, converted by Crowley. The score now read Bordeaux 40, Munster 29 and when Thaakir Abrahams broke clear down the right flank, another score, which could have brought the score to 40-36.

It was not to be. Bordeaux set up one of their brilliant attacks which saw Louis Bielle-Biarrey race over and Maxime Lucu add the extras to seal their ticket to the semi-finals thanks to a 47-29 victory.

The first half was disasterous for Munster. They struggled at the set-piece, particularly in the line-out and they conceded a try after five minutes, Damian Penaud going over. Crowley kicked a penalty three minutes later but Lucu got in for a second home try, Penaud converting with 11 minutes played. Number eight Jon Echegaray added to the Reds woes when he added a try as the half time whistle beckoned but in injury time, Munster’s Alex Nankivell put a better look on the scoreboard at 29-10.

In general this was a poor show by Munster and they paid the price for some silly errors. In fairness, travelling to France in successive week-ends had its price to pay and there was a certain lack of energy amongst some of the players. So it is back to the URC next for Ian Costelloe’s charges after a gritty, if unsuccessful attempt to punch above their weight,

Bordeaux-Bègles: 15. Jon Echegaray, 14. Damian Penaud, 13. Yoram Moefana, 12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10. Matthieu Jalibert, 9. Maxime Lucu (c), 1. Jefferson Poirot, 2. Maxime Lamothe, 3. Ben Tameifuna, 4. Adam Coleman, 5. Cyril Cazeaux, 6. Mahamadou Diaby, 7. Guido Petti, 8. Pete Samu.
Replacements: 16. Connor Sa, 17. Matis Perchaud, 18. Sipili Falatea, 19. Pierre Bochaton, 20. Marko Gazzotti, 21. Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22. Yann Lesgourgues, 23. Pablo Uberti
Munster Rugby: 15. Thaakir Abrahams, 14. Calvin Nash, 13. Tom Farrell, 12. Alex Nankivell, 11. Andrew Smith, 10. Jack Crowley, 9. Craig Casey, 1. Josh Wycherley, 2. Diarmuid Barron, 3. Oli Jager, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Tadhg Beirne (c), 6. Peter O’Mahony, 7. John Hodnett, 8. Gavin Coombes
Replacements:
16. Niall Scannell, 17. Mark Donnelly, 18. Stephen Archer, 19. Fineen Wycherley, 20. Tom Ahern, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Sean O’Brien, 23. Alex Kendellen

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