Saints dash Munster's European Dream

Munster went down swinging to Northampton Saints on Sunday 7th April, as they flamed out of the Champions Cup Round of 16 for the third time in four years. The men in red lost 24-14 to the Premiership table toppers. Tied at 14-14 going in at the half, the depth of the Northampton bench proved too much with replacement winger George Hendy crossing the white line for two tries in the final quarter.  

Uncharacteristic errors were the downfall of the visitors, making only 73% of their tackles, a 13% decrease from their season average. This allowed Northampton the quick platform to deploy their devastating strike runners in Tommy Freeman and George Hendy when he came on. Munster weren’t helped by the overwhelming number of players unavailable for selection, losing three of their starting 15 in the buildup to the game.  

John Ryan was the first to be ruled out after his citing for a dangerous tackle was upheld. RG Snyman was the next to go, failing to recover from an illness that ravaged the whole squad in the week prior to the match. The final domino to fall was Shane Daly, who picked up an injury in training. This forced Munster to deploy academy prop, Mark Donnelly, with only nine senior appearances under his belt, on the bench alongside fellow academy prospect, Shay McCarthy. 

Those who did take the field put in a valiant display given the circumstances. Craig Casey was seen puking on the pitch before returning to the fray in the second half and captain Tadhg Beirne coughed and spluttered his way through the post-match interview after another gargantuan shift.  

It wasn't enough to topple the Premiership giants, however. Munster went blow for blow with the English side in the first half. The Limerick outfit rebounded quickly after James Ramm scored in the ninth minute with a try through Sean O’Brien, his third in three games. Mike Haley and Tommy Freeman exchanged five-pointers, with all four being converted to go into halftime even. It was Munster’s inexperienced bench that proved costly, conceding two tries in the final quarter.  

Northampton look forward to a clash with the Bulls next weekend, on Saturday 13 April. Munster will hope Franklin Gardens won't prove a step too far for the South African outfit as they might look to rest their stars the week after against a travelling Munster side. 

Munster are forced to focus on the United Rugby Championship sooner than they would have wanted. With their trip to South Africa in two weeks' time they’ll be hoping for a rebound in results to get them back on track and secure a home playoff spot in a bid to defend their title.  

Munster: Haley; O’Brien, Frisch, Nankivell, Zebo; Crowley, Casey; Loughman, Scannell, Archer; Ahern, Beirne (c); O’Mahony, Hodnett, Coombes.  

Replacements: Clarke, Wycherley, Donnelly, O’Donoghue, Kendellen, Murray, Carbery, McCarthy 

Northampton Saints: Ramm; Freeman, Dingwall, Odendaal, Sleightholme; Smith, James; Iyogun, Langdon, Davison; Moon, Coles; Lawes, Ludlam (c), Graham. 

Replacements: Matavesi, Waller, Hill, Mayanavanua, Scott-Young, Augustus, Mitchell, Hendy.