Van Graan pays tribute to his players after Exeter arm wrestle

Munster are into the Champions Cup quarter final after the win over Exeter and that’s all that matters according to Johann van Graan.

Joey Carbery’s late penalty saw van Graan’s men to a two point victory and set up a last eight fixture with Edinburgh at Murrayfield at the end of March.

“Look, it was definitely the toughest game of rugby since I came to Munster, two teams who didn’t want to give up,” said van Graan after the game.

“If you get only one score in the second half, when games open up, it shows you how intense it was. It won’t go down as the prettiest game of rugby. We had a chat at half-time, looked at our plan and our composure.

“Both sides made mistakes, we had to adapt our kicking game  in the second half and I thought we did so very well.

“Two very special moments from Andrew (Conway) gave us territory and our maul came into the game in the second half.

“That steal from Billy five yards from the line was a momentum shift. They score there, they go eight points ahead and then we needed to chase and it might have opened the game up.

“All credit  to the guys, I spoke in the week about the will to win and 1-23, all the guys showed their will to win tonight.”

Tadhg Beirne put in a stunning man of the match performance in the victory. His highlight package included a stunning 13 turnovers.

His excellent form this season has been a big positive for Munster and van Graan highlighted the importance he now holds.

“I think Tadhg’s a special player. He’s had a few MOTM performances in this competition. He’s very dynamic and he’s one of the only locks in world rugby who can poach the way he can.

“He’s worked so hard on his calling. When he arrived he wasn’t really a calling option. I think he’s developed into one of the form locks in the competition.”

Van Graan also paid tribute to Joey Carbery after the out half’s three penalties secured Munster’s safe passage into the knockout stages.

Carbery has now nailed 20/20 from the kicking tee since he missed a number of kicks against Castres in round four.

“The very first day I met him, I asked him ‘why do you want to come to Munster’. He said: He wanted to come to make a difference and to fit in and he wants to make this a better team. He’s done so with every single action of his on and off the field.

After the Castres game when he missed maybe one or two penalties, to come back and kick 20 out of 20, that’s incredible. That’s a sign of pure class. His willingness to learn, his willingness to improve is an incredible trait of a very young rugby player.

“There was a lot of expectation when he came to Munster, but the way he’s handled himself. He is a special man and a special player, I’m proud to be his coach.”