After an emotional night at Thomond Park, where Munster‘s 38-20 bonus-point win over Ulster in front of a 17,684 crowd went a long way towards securing a place in the URC play-offs and qualification for next season’s Champions Cup, interim head coach Ian Costello admitted their motivation went much deeper than that.
As well as being must-win in the broader scheme of things, this was Munster’s penultimate home match of the season but their last at Thomond Park. This in turn meant farewells to the retiring Dave Kilcoyne and team manager Niall O’Donovan, among others including Rory Scannell, and a final appearance at the Limerick citadel for Stephen Archer, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray.
Speaking of “the biggest relief” after a six try to two win, which temporarily elevated Munster from ninth to fifth in the table, Costello said: “We all know there’s play-offs, we know what’s at stake in terms of Champions Cup, what it means for the club. We know that there’s a huge amount of external pressure but actually this week, we went a lot deeper than that.
“We knew that was there,” Costello added. “It was about Peter, it was about Conor, it was about Stevie. It was about what they’ve done for the club, how they deserve to be sent off.
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“We had a meeting on the pitch tonight and Tadhg (Beirne) spoke so well and it really captured the whole week around putting a performance out there that reflected how much those lads meant to us and meant to the club,” said Costello, revealing Munster captain Beirne had called their first get-together on the turf rather than in the dressingroom as is custom.
“That’s more powerful than anything, and it probably reflected what those lads meant to us. In a lot of elements, without being perfect, I think we did that. That’s the relief.”
As if preordained, O’Mahony had the final say when leaping above Ulster scrumhalf Nathan Doak to a bouncing cross kick from Jack Crowley in the 59th minute to gather and apply a slam dunk finish. O’Mahony even scored Munster’s sixth try next to a banner hailing the three retiring ‘liginds’, headed by King Peter.
“It was unreal, wasn’t it?” observed Munster centre Alex Nankivell, who has proved a strong signing from the Chiefs over the last two seasons.
“Obviously, I kind of knew who Pete and Murr were from playing in New Zealand and the Lions tours, what they’ve done for Ireland. To come here and be in the changing room with them, the coolest thing to me is just how normal they are. They’re great, great fellas, first and foremost.
“Ultimately, they’ve done amazing things for Munster and Ireland as a nation. That’s what really stuck me, you want to be team-mates with people who will work hard for you and just be good people. They’re down-to-earth and great lads. So it’s pretty cool. I haven’t known them for too long, but you can see the influence they have in this team. It’s pretty special.”
Earlier, as if to showcase his Thomond Park farewell with a demonstration of his skill set, O’Mahony selflessly had two close-range try assists for Michael Milne and Tom Farrell in a wild and wacky first half at the end of which Munster led 24-20 with their bonus point already secured.
Munster’s win, which all but mathematically extinguished Ulster’s hopes of reaching the play-offs and ended their hopes of competing in the Champions Cup for the first time in 31 seasons, elevated Costello’s side to fifth in the table overnight pending the rest of the weekend’s results.
A win at home to Benetton on what is sure to be another emotional farewell for O’Mahony and Co in Virgin Media Park next Friday will confirm their play-off place if it hasn’t been already, and most likely a quarter-final in South Africa against the Bulls or Sharks.
Despite this high-stakes victory over Ulster being an initially flawed and fraught display – notably with an initially malfunctioning lineout and a bizarre inability to exit from restarts – Munster ultimately won, easing up in the final quarter.
“Really pleased with the second half, but really pleased with some elements of the first as well,” said Costello. “We laid out stall out in terms of physicality. We used it as a measure of work-rate and how to match theirs, and to the eye it looked like we were starting to get the ascendancy there.
“We felt we laid a good foundation in the first half without it being pretty, and capitalised on it in the second half.”
