Munster 33 Leicester Tigers 10
Post match, Geordan Murphy and Peter O'Mahony provided separate yet similar half-time team talks.
Murphy, a winner in Tiger stripes on this field, offered a reality check to his fellow Leicester men as head coach Matt O’Connor was impulsively causing havoc with accusations that would struggle to hold up in a kangaroo court.
Next door O’Mahony provided a stark reminder to his young coaches and growing squad about the previous December’s reversal at Welford Road.
“Last year we were beaten up physically over there,” said O’Mahony after another colossal individual performance.
“That’s something that we need to address. Leicester are like an animal backed into a corner now. It’s not a big secret, I’m not giving away our game plan, if we don’t physically dominate a side like Leicester we are going to struggle.”
O’Mahony’s contractual discussions, between Conor Ridge and David Nucifora, move closer to the January 1st deadline.
“There is stuff going on in the background. As I said last week, performance is paramount for me now.”
By God, the flanker is holding up his end of the bargain. Wonder what he’s worth? See the England game on March 18th, see his climb into the Lions captaincy last summer, see the brutal dominance of Leicester’s backrow on this bitterly cold night.
Similar words have only ever been gifted to Paul O’Connell, who reportedly turned down a chance to coach this Tigers pack.
O’Mahony is correct. The bonus point was expertly secured by Ian Keatley’s clever control behind a dominant pack as next Sunday’s opposition left Limerick humiliated.
Familiar narrative.
This was redemption of sorts for Keatley. On 74 minutes he saluted the 23,503 crowd along the same walk that two long years ago was greeted by a smattering of insults.
On this freezing night the chorus was warm affection, gilded with respect.
Irreplaceable loss
Tyler Bleyendaal’s neck can heal in its own good time and JJ Hanrahan continue the search for consistency because Keatley’s name is above the door for now.
The long freeze also belonged to a free-wheeling Zebo. The man is himself now, attempting the spectacular knowing no strict regime will douse the flames ever again. The second try, to make it 20-0 on the half hour, was celebrated like Hugo Sánchez at Mexico ’86.
That’s Zebo; flair and mettle in equal measure, he finished off Keatley’s reverse bouncing poke with dance and dab. What an irreplaceable loss to Munster, on and off the field, he will be next season.
The Tigers needed Jerome Garces’ interval whistle to thaw out. Especially captain Tom Youngs. A neck roll on Chris Cloete and shoulder dunt to CJ Stander’s head saw him cough up two penalties – yet he avoided a yellow card.
All they initially mustered was a George Ford penalty, instantly cancelled by Keatley to leave it 23-3 at the turn (Rhys Marshall bagged the first try on 19 minutes after some nifty handling caught Youngs man-marking Stander).
O’Mahony was everywhere. Two perilously snatched possessions kept Munster streaming forward while the manner in which he slammed down the third try on 56 minutes felt like a statement.
Imagine the ructions if the IRFU let him leave.
Others kept the flame ablaze. Dave Kilcoyne remains ravenous for work after tasting life in a green jersey. Sam Arnold, a superb underage player badly hampered by injury, picked up the man of the match award to highlight just how misguided Ulster’s talent identification has been. Arnold is profiting from another exiled northerner Chris Farrell’s knee damage. Losing one of them was understandable, but both seems inexcusable.
Also, Rory Scannell, with a left boot that travels and valuable physicality, has surely earned additional exposure to Carton House.
“You got to be building a squad,” said O’Mahony, who remains the chief voice until Johann van Graan finds his groove. “You see the good teams around the world, club and international teams have strength in depth. We haven’t always had that but we are certainly getting there.
Spitting bile
“If we want to win in Europe it is something that we need. There are knocks and other guys got to step up. It’s good to see young guys, who might seem a long way away in the academy or a development contract, you’re not. You are a bang or a bruise away from playing in Europe and you’ve got to be ready. It is difficult at time when you are young. We have all been there when you are thrown [into the deep end]. The guys who swim and get stuck in are the guys who are going to play regularly for Munster.”
The South Africans do just that. Cloete is a tiny openside, with scrumhalf skills, devilishly existing somewhere between Heinrich Brüssow than Richardt Strauss over opposition ball while Jean Kleyn was first into the scuffle when Logovii Mulipola pinned O’Mahony.
Andrew Conway was having another stormer, living off Conor Murray’s box kicks, until knocked senseless in a collision with Telusa Veainu that had O’Connor spitting bile. The Tongan’s jaw was broken by Conway’s crouched head.
On 63 minutes Leicester gave due warning of what’s to follow. Denied a mauled try by Marshall’s miracle turnover, they regrouped with Harry Thacker driven through the guts. Ford converted.
Munster pin-balled down the other end as their lineout maul put Cloete over for the bonus score. Kealtey missed a second touchline conversion in an otherwise impressive showing.
Only half-time.
MUNSTER: S Zebo; A Conway, S Arnold, R Scannell, A Wootton; I Keatley, C Murray; D Kilcoyne, R Marshall, S Archer; J Kleyn, B Holland; P O'Mahony (capt), C Cloete, CJ Stander. Replacements: D Sweetnam for A Conway (47 mins), B Scott for D Kilcoyne (54 mins), J Ryan for S Archer (60 mins), K O'Byrne for RMarshall, D O'Shea for J Kleyn (both 69 mins), J O'Donoghue for P O'Mahony (71 mins), D Williams for C Murray (72 mins), JJ Hanrahan for I Keatley (74 mins).
LEICESTER: T Veainu; A Thompstone, M Smith, M Tait, J May; G Ford, B Youngs; K Traynor, T Youngs (capt), D Cole; M Fitzgerald, G Kitchener; T Mapapalangi, L Hamilton, S Kalafamoni. Replacements: N Malouf for T Veainu (47 mins), L Mulipola for K Traynor, D Barrow for M Mfitzgerald (both 50 mins), H Thacker for T Youngs, M Williams for T Mapapalangi (both 62 mins), C Baumann for D Cole, S Harrison for B Youngs (both 70 mins).
Referee: J Garcès (France).
