Munster denied Pro14 final spot by classy Leinster outfit

Leinster 16

Munster 15

There were no signs of a European hangover from champions, Leinster in the RDS this afternoon as they earned a place in the Pro14 final with a narrow victory over Munster. Johann van Graan’s men were left to rue missed chances and poor defensive errors as they were once again overturned by their inter-provincial rivals, Munster unable to counter the blistering pace of Leinster’s back line.

Leinster showed no ill-effects of missing their key players including Jonathan Sexton, Robbie Henshaw and Dan Leavy, as they roared into this game with three key turnovers in the first five minutes. The opening score of the game came in the eighth minute when James Lowe made a blistering break before offloading to Nacewa who allowed Jack Conan to waltz through the Munster defence.

The big injury concern for Munster came in the form of Jack O’Donoghue who was replaced after 12 minutes by Robin Copeland with what look like a knee injury in the tackle.

The first sniff of a try for the visitors came from a static maul when Andrew Conway managed to keep a floating pass from Rory Scannell in play but Simon Zebo could not take the offload. However South African referee, Stuart Berry had given Munster the advantage after Leinster were penalised for not releasing with Hanrahan getting Munster onto the board.

Ross Byrne cancelled out the score within a minute with a penalty kick from just inside  the 10 metre line.

Munster’s defensive holes were once again exposed by the pace of Lowe who looked like scoring a certain try until Sammy Arnold ran across and made a last ditch tackle.

Conor Murray again showed his immeasurable rugby brain with a clever break from a free kick at the scrum. The ball ease eventually knocked to touch with Hanrahan sending the resulting penalty wide.

Munster’s best period of possession came five minutes before half time as they threatened the Leinster line for the first time. There was brilliant build up with Earls and Zebo showing quick hands in the offload with CJ Stander eventually diving over but was held up. Things only worsened for Munster when Jean Kleyn was sin binned for dangerous contact in the ruck.

Munster started the second half much brighter with a well worked try touched down by Keith Earls in the corner within three minutes. The Moyross man seemed to injure himself in the process but returned to his feet, much to the delight of the Munster crowd. Substitution missed the conversion, and following a penalty from Ross Byrne a minute later, Leinster retained a five point advantage.

Just as Leinster looked to threaten once more, kicking a penalty to the corner, Munster produced a crucial turnover in the maul. With 30 minutes to go, van Graan began to ring in the changes, Grobler and Kilcoyne taking the field. Byrne missed a chance to extend Leinster’s lead and Munster enjoyed more possession. Zebo showed his skills that Munster are desperately going to miss next season but was denied by the referee after Ringrose gathered the Corkman’s chip ahead.

From there, more unforced errors began to creep into Munster’s play. Uncharacteristically, Earls knocked on under the high ball before Munster were penalised in the resulting scrum. They were thrown a lifeline by Carbery whose kick drifted wide.

As the game entered the final 1o minutes, Munster were awarded a penalty within the 10 metre line but refused to take the three points,  Murray instead kicked to touch. They were left to rue the decision when James Treacy showed great strength over the ball to earn his side a penalty. Leinster were award another penalty from a scrum minutes later and this time, Carbery made no mistake.

With two minutes to go, Gerbrandt Grobler narrowed the gap to just one point, the TMO deeming his effort beneath the post to be a try, Keatley adding the conversion. Just when it looked like Munster would snatch victory, Berry awarded a penalty to the home side, bringing the game to an end.

And so Munster finish their season with another semi-final loss away from home, a heartbreaking end for Simon Zebo and Robin Copeland who will both now depart the province.

Leinster: Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Isa Nacewa (capt), James Lowe, Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath, Jack Conan, Jordi Murphy, Rhys Ruddock, James Ryan, Devin Toner, Tadhg Furlong, Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath.

Munster: Simon Zebo Andrew Conway, Sammy Arnold, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls, JJ Hanrahan, Conor Murray, CJ Stander, Jack O’Donoghue, Peter O’Mahony (captain), Billy Holland, Jean Kleyn, John Ryan, Rhys Marshall, James Cronin.