In the pantheon of European thrillers, this was right up there

Brendan Fanning

Toulouse's Antoine Dupont on his way to scoring his side's third try despite the efforts of Munster's Jack O'Donoghue during yesterday's Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 clash at Thomond Park. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

April 04 2021 02:30 AM

In the pantheon of end-to-end thrillers this should be right up there. Small wonder both sets of players were shattered at its end. Munster had gone desperately close, playing some great rugby against a team with designs on winning this competition.

For long periods Toulouse coach Ugo Mola would have been wondering if this was the day where their European campaign would come to an end. He badly needed his bench players to ride to the rescue of their colleagues who were struggling to last the pace.

The bench did as designed — they made an impact — and in the final quarter Toulouse were able to string together the consecutive scores they needed to get some wriggle room,

Across the pitch in the Munster changing room Johann van Graan can’t have had too many complaints, and none with a team who left everything on the field.

Surely his inner thoughts must have dwelt on how useful this would have been a week ago. They didn’t have the continuity of a Toulouse side who looked to play every other ball out of the tackle, before succumbing to a breakdown where they were vulnerable.

But it was the grunt of their forwards who decided it in the end. The best teams can play from one touchline to the other, or direct through whoever is in their way. You could see the desire of Mola’s men — massive men — to smash their way over in the final 20 minutes.

And of course Antoine Dupont was at the heart of it. The world’s best No 9 struck for two tries that swung the game the way of his team. He would be the first to acknowledge the input of Matthis Lebel, whose brilliant sidestep made the space for the first, to allow Romain Ntamack change a 26-23 deficit to a 26-30 tally in their favour.

That was followed by another Ntamack penalty — he had a brilliant game — before Dupont’s second effort had to go through the TMO wringer before being declared legal. Suddenly, with three minutes left, we were looking at a 26-40 scoreline which was a distortion of context. Fineen Wycherley’s try at the death may have been immaterial but at least it better reflected his side’s contribution to what was top-quality entertainment.

It started from the first kick-off and never let up. By the break Munster were looking very good with a lead of seven points comprising a very good return.

If their thievery at the breakdown was top notch — with Tadhg Beirne and CJ Stander leading the charge — then it was their counter-attack that was doing the damage to the French. The downside was the loss of Beirne with a rib injury after he had been emptied by Francois Cros.

For 40 minutes Toulouse clearly had no interest in putting the ball out of play when clearing their lines, happy instead to hang it up for Andrew Conway or Mike Haley in particular. But the red shirts worked hard to get back and support, with Damian de Allende and Chris Farrell doing a fine job. You expect a serious level of physicality from them but they were given the freedom here to play some ball, and did it to great effect.

Keith Earls’s finishing, however, was the deal-breaker. Much of the preview for this tie would have been dominated by the footwork of Springbok Cheslin Kolbe but Earls was in brilliant form. Two tries in four minutes may well have been a career first for him. If he’s done anything similar before then it can’t have carried any greater value.

His team were trailing 3-6 when he struck on 25 minutes, after great work by De Allende. Toulouse hadn’t quite taken that in when he hit them again on the back of a great turnover by Jack O’Donoghue, who had a fine game. A Joey Carbery penalty rounded off the half — Munster had been banging away looking for a try but with the clock on 40 minutes had to settle for three points.

They needed to score first in the second half but Ntamack found Lebel with a perfect chip and Toulouse were not just level, but mightily relieved to be still in the game. The irrepressible Gavin Coombes got over on 51 minutes to open the game up again but Julian Marchand responded in kind.

When Munster needed to be driving on instead they couldn’t find that extra gear. The concession of Munster’s 11th penalty gave Ntamack another three points after Dupont’s first try, and at last the game tilted their way.

Scorers – Munster: K Earls 2 tries; G Coombes, F Wycherley try each; J Carbery 2 pens, con; JJ Hanrahan pen; C Casey con. Toulouse: A Dupont 2 tries; M Lebel, J Marchand try each; R Ntamack 4 pens, 4 cons.

Munster: M Haley; A Conway, C Farrell (yc 4-14), D de Allende, K Earls; J Carbery (JJ Hanrahan 62), C Murray (C Casey 76); D Kilcoyne (J Cronin 60), N Scannell (K O’Byrne 35-40; 75), S Archer (J Ryan 60), K Kleyn (F Wycherley 67), T Beirne (B Holland 37), G Coombes, CJ Stander (capt), J O’Donoghue (C Cloete 70).

Toulouse: M Medard (D Delibes 64); C Kolbe, Z Holmes, P Aki, M Lebel; R Ntamack, A Dupont (B Germain77); C Baille (C Castets 49; yc 80), J Marchand (capt) (P Mauvaka 56), C Faumuina (D Aldegheri 49), Rory Arnold (T Flament 55), Richie Arnold (J Tekori 51), F Cros (S Tolofua 71) J Kaino, S Tolofua (A Placines 53).

Referee: W Barnes (England).