Van Graan’s troops denied at the death
MUNSTER lost out in the last five minutes in Paris, but second-half tries from Keith Earls and Chris Farrell ensured they still lead the chase for a spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.
A losing bonus point was the least Munster deserved for their brave comeback at the stunning indoor U Arena, although penalties from Ian Keatley and Conor Murray were not enough to wrap up the win as Maxime Machenaud kicked seven out of eight for Racing to take the victory.
Against his former team Donnacha Ryan was inspirational for Racing and it was the Tipperary man who won a key restart and earned his side a penalty, from which Machenaud broke Munster’s hearts late on.
‘It’s in our own hands now. We are right in this competition. A win at Thomond Park and we’ll be in first in our pool and hopefully we’ll get a home quarter-final,’ said Munster coach Johann van Graan.
‘As a team we are very disappointed to lose. We put in a lot of effort. I thought he guys’ attitude was fantastic. We didn’t have a great start and maybe one Championship-winning moment we lost in the last minute.
‘We could have walked away with four or five points here. We’re very happy about the bonus point, we’re back to Thomond Park now and looking forward to Castres now.’
The sight of Munster captain, Peter O’Mahony, on the sideline after 55 minutes with an ice pack on his right ankle will not have pleased van Graan — or Joe Schmidt — but that one point his side claimed means they remain in the driver’s seat in Pool 4.
Racing can also reach the last eight with a win at Welford Road, and Ryan admitted that Racing’s only focus was winning yesterday’s clash.
‘Knowing the way Munster guys are they play with a lot of heart. They came back very well at the end of the first half, we started the second half well and then true to form the Munster boys came back into the game and showed a massive, massive performance,’ said Ryan.
‘I think we got a bit lucky there towards the end. We just dogged it out — it turned into a dogfight — but we were lucky to come out the right side of it.
‘It was really weird playing against the lads but that’s the way it is.
‘That’s a fantastic Munster team and I’m really proud of our boys in Racing as well. I thought we did really, really well.’
Played at Racing 92’s new stadium, the illumination show before kick-off was matched by the home side’s start to the game and after Munster conceded two early penalties the French side soon were battering the Munster try line.
And after a handful of well structured phases Yannick Nyanga powered over from close range and Machenaud had little trouble adding the extra points for a 7-0 lead in the third minute, while his penalty soon pushed Racing 92 10-0 up. Munster certainly appeared to be a little dazzled by the bright lights of the venue, but they managed to settle, and after two big carries from centres Chris Farrell and Rory Scannell, Jean Kleyn crashed through two tackles and stretched to score his fifth try of the season.
Ian Keatley was on target from the conversion to put just three points between the sides after 21 minutes, but from further out on the angle Conor Murray saw his effort crash back of the post and the gap between the sides remained at 10-7.
But just before the interval, O’Mahony was harshly penalised for failing to roll away from the tackle, however some dissent targeted towards the sideline official and match referee Matthew Carley resulted in the ball being moved closer and Machenaud drilled over the kick for a 13-7 half-time lead.
The second half started the way in which the first ended for Munster and only three minutes after the break they conceded a second try when a powerful Edwin Maka carry saw Marc Andreu score in the corner, which put his side 18-7 ahead.
But at that point Munster took total control. Earls only needed half a gap to score after 46 minutes, and six minutes later, Keatley carried across the line and sent Farrell over, while the out-half’s conversion put Munster ahead for the first time, 21-18 after 52 minutes.
Machenaud’s penalty levelled matters 25 minutes from time, but two excellently stuck Keatley penalties in the 56th and 63rd minutes gave Munster a 27-21 lead as play entered the final quarter.
But no sooner had Munster pulled clear Racing took the lead again.
Nyanga was again in the thick of it when he looped from the tail to the front of a lineout and exchanged quick passes with replacement hooker Dmitri Szarzewski, who scored.
Murray’s long-range penalty then drifted wide, but the scrumhalf landed from inside his own half to restore Munster’s lead with seven minutes to go, only for Ryan and Racing to win out at the death.
RACING 92: L Dupichot; T Thomas, V Vakatawa, H Chavancy, M Andreu; R Tales, M Machenaud; E Ben Arous (V Kakovin, 53), C Chat (D Szarzewski, 53), B Tameifuna (C Gomes Sa, 48); D Ryan, E Maka (B Palu, 48); Y Nyanga, W Lauret (B Chouzenoux, 75), L Nakarawa.
MUNSTER: S Zebo (A Wootton, 73); A Conway, C Farrell, R Scannell, K Earls; I Keatley (JJ Hanrahan, 78), C Murray; D Kilcoyne (J Cronin, 56), R Marshall (K O’Byrne, 77), S Archer (J Ryan, 56); J Kleyn, B Holland; P O’Mahony (J O’Donoghue, 55), C Cloete, CJ Stander. Referee: Matthew Carley (England).
Attendance: 16,155.