Foley’s men finally show some fight
bonus seemingly frittered away against Leicester to help prop up the return of just two wins from five, is what needed to happen to add credence to Foley’s patter.
Last Saturday’s 26-13 bonus win over Stade did salvage an improbable lifeline: they can still snatch second spot in Pool 4 if the French side lose to runaway pool winners Leicester in Paris, but even then Munster’s maximum points haul of 15, secured if they win with a bonus at Treviso, surely won’t be enough.
The likelihood is that by kick-off time in Italy next Sunday lunchtime, their elimination will be confirmed. After that they can get back to the serious business at hand — a review to ensure Foley’s Munster makes the necessary changes to regain the support of the 4,000-plus ticket holders who didn’t attend a European fixture they had paid for.
This fall-off in popularity mustn’t be lost sight of in the wake of Saturday’s improved performance in Limerick. Underperforming players had received a clear message that previous performances were unacceptable, those in attendance at Thomond launching into a stirring rendition of Stand Up and Fight during an early injury stoppage in play.
That set the tone for transforming a 5-6 deficit nearing the interval into a 19-6 cushion just three minutes after the break, Keith Earls infusing confidence with his scoring run from halfway which was followed by the Ian Keatley putting in the exquisite chip to create Zebo’s score. CJ Stander confirmed the bonus with the win-sealing fourth try that will ultimately be viewed as much too little too late in a damaging campaign where too many shortcomings were exposed.