Leinster are PRO14 champions again as Munster's final misery continues

PRO14 Final: Leinster 16 Munster 6

Leinster players celebrate with the PRO14 trophy following their final win over Munster at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Ruaidhri O'Connor Twitter

March 27 2021 06:50 PM

Irish rugby’s status quo remains firmly in place. The scoreboard says Munster were 10 points off Leinster, but in truth it was only the home side’s uncharacteristic charity that kept it that close.

For the men in blue, this was a fourth Guinness PRO14 title in a row and the relentless way they smothered Johann van Graan’s side suggested they’re not about to let up as Europe returns next weekend.

The South African coach’s record in this fixture is woeful, but rarely have his side been so passive, allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by their opponents who were led by a stunning performance from hooker Ronan Kelleher, flanker Rhys Ruddock and a smart display from captain Luke McGrath.

Logic dictated that, with CJ Stander and Billy Holland retiring and a decade of hurt in the locker, Munster would have the force of emotion behind them but Leinster stifled whatever they had.

Josh van der Flier of Leinster is tackled by Tadhg Beirne of Munster during the Guinness PRO14 Final match between Leinster and Munster at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Again, Munster will reflect on a failure to fire on the biggest day as their long wait for silverware goes on.

Leinster, in contrast, rarely let the moment pass.

Somehow, the score was level at half-time and both sides will have spent much of their time in the dressing-room wondering how it was 6-6.

From the first minute, the home side were dominant, but they were unusually profligate and left a series of try-scoring chances on the field.

They failed to fully exploit a nervous Munster start, Ross Byrne settling for three points from a promising early visit to the ’22, but they weren’t long returning and should have gone further in front had Rory O’Loughlin not put his pass behind Jordan Larmour’s head as the line beckoned.

Munster were forced to scramble by a combination of ferocious work from the Leinster tight-five and clever play from the backs in blue. Niall Scannell went off his feet and Byrne doubled the lead.

The visitors needed someone to make a play and Jean Kleyn obliged with a thumping tackle on Cian Healy that led to the prop holding on and Joey Carbery kicking the penalty.

Briefly, the men in red threatened to create something with Damian de Allende prominent, but Robbie Henshaw stole the breakdown ball and Andrew Porter forced a John Ryan knock-on as Leinster got back on the front-foot.

Munster's Keith Earls is tackled by Rhys Ruddock, right, and Cian Healy of Leinster during the PRO14 final at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Mike Haley had to be sharp to deal with a clever Dave Kearney chip, Ronan Kelleher then made big gains up the short-side and Porter made a huge carry but Byrne’s indecision and another terrible O’Loughlin pass saw them pass up the chance.

Keith Earls made a mess of things by trying to go quickly and knocking on, but, after Henshaw and Scott Fardy had run through poor Carbery tackles, the Wallaby was held up over the line by a combination of Gavin Coombes and Stander.

Two Josh van der Flier errors let Munster off the hook as the blue waves kept coming, with the flanker first guilty of crossing before he ruined his own good initial work by passing the ball to the retreating Earls as the Leinster backs screamed for the ball.

Having hung on in for half-an-hour, the men in red finally caught a break when the Leinster forwards followed up a crooked throw with an early scrum push.

Conor Murray missed a long-range penalty, Carbery hit the post with an easier effort but he nailed the last kick of the half after Conan went high on Murray.

Leinster clearly decided to tighten up at the break and they punished a poor Kleyn knock-on by forcing a scrum penalty and went in search of the try their play deserved.

Conan got over the line, but again he was held up by Tadhg Beirne but he wouldn’t be denied minutes later as he caught De Allende napping at the fringe and powered over.

Byrne converted and Carbery kicked the restart dead, but the out-half missed the next opportunity to give his side some breathing space, before making way for Johnny Sexton.

He was joined by Ryan Baird who stripped Stander of possession with his first touch before Sexton was forced off with a head injury after nailing Carbery with a big hit.

Byrne came back on and, after a brilliant touch-finder, he punished lazy Munster runners by nailing a more difficult kick and, 16-6 up with 11 minutes remaining, the champions managed the game home from there.

Scorers: Leinster: J Conan try, R Byrne con, 3 pens; Munster: J Carbery 2 pens;

Leinster: H Keenan; J Larmour, R O'Loughlin, R Henshaw, D Kearney; R Byrne (J Sexton 60) (Byrne 65), L McGrath (capt) (J Gibson-Park 76); C Healy (E Byrne 53), R Kelleher (J Tracy 70), A Porter (T Furlong 53); D Toner, S Fardy (R Baird 60); R Ruddock (R Molony 74), , J Conan, J van der Flier.

Munster: M Haley; A Conway, C Farrell, D de Allende (R Scannell 74), K Earls; J Carbery (JJ Hanrahan 70), C Murray (C Casey 70); J Cronin (D Kilcoyne 52), N Scannell (K O’Byrne 53), J Ryan (S Archer 52); J Kleyn (B Holland 70), T Beirne; G Coombes, CJ Stander, P O'Mahony (capt) (J O’Donoghue 59).

Ref: M Adamson (Scotland).

Online Editors