Munster 24-38 All Blacks XV
After a week they would hope to forget, this was a reminder of what Munster rugby is meant to be about.
With their backs against the wall and without a head coach after the departure of Graham Rowntree on Tuesday, the province brought an All Blacks XV all the way in a thrilling game at Thomond Park, which was only settled in the final few minutes.
On Thursday, interim head coach Ian Costello said he wanted his players to play the occasion and not just the game. While they ultimately came out the wrong side of a 38-24 scoreline, they played their part in a gripping occasion, one which any prospective head coach would be enticed by.
The scoreline is no reflection on what was an evenly balanced game right up to the final five minutes, as late breakaway tries for Kini Naholo and Harry Plummer put some gloss on the win for the tourists.
Heading into those final five minutes, Munster were just two behind at 26-24, and for parts of that final 20 minutes it looked like they may have been about to pull off a famous win in front of 26,267 supporters.
Peter O'Mahony may no longer be captain, but he’s no less of a leader, and was immense in his 40 minutes, setting the physical tone right from kick-off, while also forcing an All Black error which proved crucial to Munster’s two first half tries, with Mike Haley and a penalty try leaving them just 14-12 behind after an entertaining opening half.
Each time the All Blacks pulled clear, Munster reeled them in. Brodie McAllister and Quinn Tupaea’s third-quarter tries were cancelled out by the brilliant John Hodnett and Tom Farrell, which set up a tense final quarter before those late tries sealed the win for the visitors.
The first ten minutes were thoroughly entertaining, even if they failed to yield a score.
Right from kick-off, when O’Mahony landed the first tackle of the game, Munster looked determined to answer their critics, playing with a ferocity and style that made for a brilliant watch, and it was matched by some excellent scramble defence from the visitors.
Diarmuid Kilgallen’s first touch in a Munster shirt was an encouraging break down the left touchline, while that soon led to Tom Farrell finding space in midfield with a half-break.
The former Connacht team-mates connected for another good chance on five minutes, but as Munster tried to find Tom Ahern on the touchline with a cross-field kick, it sailed over the lock’s head.
It wasn’t all good from the hosts though. They gave away two penalties and a free-kick off the first three scrums, and when they turned down an easy three points in favour of going to the corner on 13 minutes, Billy Burns’ kick to touch was poorly hit, and left them too far out to trouble the tryline.
They were made to pay on 22 minutes, when the All Blacks had their first real attack at the Munster 22. An error from a penalty kick to touch from Kilgallen gave them the New Zealanders the chance to attack, before they earned a scrum five metres out and directly under the posts.
From there, it was a perfect execution, as scrum-half Finlay Christie went left to his out-half Plummer, and he in turn popped to Lam, who ran a hard line against the grain to score, as Plummer converted to make it 7-0.
Six minutes later, they extended that lead. The Munster errors were growing, as Burns missed touch from a penalty, and moments later an overthrown lineout allowed the All Blacks to counter.
Kini Naholo made the initial yards, while Quinn Tupaea and Isaia Walker-Leawere followed up to keep the move going, before they swiftly went wide to Fihaki who dived over and score, as a touchline conversion from Plummer made it 14-0 with half an hour played.
It was looking like a lost cause for Munster when a skip-pass from Kilgallen slipped through Ahern’s hands and into touch, but the game flipped from the resulting lineout, as O’Mahony’s pressure led to a penalty at the breakdown, which was won by the captain Diarmuid Barron.
After kicking to the corner, a clever lineout move got Gavin Coombes onto the ball in space, and after he got them close to the line, Mike Haley found a gap to dive over and score Munster’s first try on 34 minutes.
Rory Scannell couldn’t convert, leaving the score 14-5, but he made up for that in the final minute of the half when he stuck a penalty kick right into the corner, setting up one last attack in the half.
Barron’s lineout found O’Mahony at the tail, and the when the tourists pulled down the maul, referee Takehito Namekawa awarded the penalty try to make it 14-12, and sin-binning Walker-Leawere.
The score had Thomond Park in a frenzy, and the half time whistle was the last thing Munster wanted to hear, with all the momentum now on their side.
The break allowed the tourists to regroup, and it looked like they were in for a third try on 41 minutes when captain Du'Plessis Kirifi dived over in the corner, only for it to be called back by the TMO following a knock-on.
It was only a brief respite for Munster though. From the resulting scrum, the New Zealanders won a penalty, and after kicking to the corner, they mauled their way over the line, as their hooker McAllister touched down for the try, as Plummer converted to make it 21-12.
Again, Munster responded, winning a penalty in front of the posts and again turning down the easy three points in favour of the more adventurous kick to touch. Mauling their way deep into the 22, another penalty followed.
With the maul causing huge problems for the All Blacks, Munster went back into the corner, and this time powered over to score, Hodnett getting the decisive touchdown, although Scannell’s missed conversion left Munster four behind at 21-17.
The game was becoming a beautiful mess. On 57 minutes it looked like the All Blacks had put Munster out at an arm’s reach when Tupaea connected perfectly with Shaun Stevenson’s crossfield kick to run in his side’s fourth try, but having extended their lead to 26-17, Munster hit back instantly.
New Zealand made a mess of the restart, allowing Munster immediate access to the 22, and when hooker Bradley Slater slipped off a routine tackle of Rory Scannell, and the centre broke free before passing inside to Farrell who reached out to ground the ball over the line, as Scannell tapped over the conversion to make it 26-24, into the final quarter.
It felt like it was going to be Munster’s night, and when academy loosehead Kieran Ryan won a pair of scrum penalties in quick success, it put Munster into prime attacking position, into the last ten minutes.
Their best chance at finding a winning score came in the left corner, as Even O’Connell brought the ball into contact before freeing up his hands and offloading to Kilgallen, who was stopped by a brilliant tackle in the corner, and knocked into touch.
They continued to swing for the fences, but when the tourists counter-attacked and broke clear to score through Naholo on 75 minutes, it killed off the game as a contest, while Plummer’s intercept try with the final capped off a hard-fought win for the All Blacks XV.
Munster scorers: Tries: Mike Haley, Penalty Try, John Hodnett, Tom Farrell
Cons: Rory Scannell
All Blacks XV scorers: Tries: AJ Jam, Chay Fihaki, Brodie McAllister, Quinn Tupaea, Kini Naholo, Harry Plummer
Cons: Harry Plummer (4)
Munster: Mike Haley; Shay McCarthy, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Billy Burns, Ethan Coughlan; John Ryan, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Stephen Archer; Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern; Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell (for Barron, 55), Kieran Ryan (for John Ryan, 52), Ronan Foxe (for Archer, 71), Evan O’Connell (for Ahern, 61), Ruadhán Quinn (for O’Mahony, 40), Paddy Patterson (for Coughlan, 55), Tony Butler (for Burns, 52), Ben O’Connor (for McCarthy, 71).
All Blacks XV: Shaun Stevenson; Chay Fihaki, AJ Lam, Quinn Tupaea, Kini Naholo; Harry Plummer, Finlay Christie; George Bower, Brodie McAllister, George Dyer; Isaia Walker-Leawere, Fabian Holland; Oliver Haig, Du'Plessis Kirifi (capt), Devan Flanders.
Replacements: Bradley Slater (for McAllister, 59), Xavier Numia (for Bower, 50), Marcel Renata (for Dyer, 50), Naitoa Ah Kuoi (for Holland, 65), Corey Kellow, Noah Hotham (for Christie, 65), Josh Jacomb (for Stevenson, 72), Ruben Love (for Fihaki, 46)
Referee: Takehito Namekawa (JRFU)
