Munster in control as Harlequins pay heavy price for poor discipline

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Munster 21 Harlequins 7 This was a strange game played in strange circumstances. Harlequins might have added their names to the five sides who have beaten Munster here in over 80 fixtures but for a lack of discipline which resulted in all three of their starting back row being sent to the sin bin. It was clear from early on that Munster missed their fabled 16th man. There was an eerie silence at Thomond Park which, in normal times, is filled with fans who take particular relish in giving English visitors a hostile reception. Instead, the only interaction from the locals was the hooting of car horns from outside the stadium – but on this strangest of days, it was not in encouragement but in celebration as Limerick had won the All Ireland Hurling Championship final played at Croke Park. Paul Gustard, the Harlequins head of rugby, admitted he was frustrated by his side’s lack of discipline. “I think we have made great strides in our discipline over the last few weeks and we are working hard on it. Two or three of those penalties were just daft, weren’t they?” he said. “We gave them a lot of field position, which led to 14 points, which was the difference between the teams. We are frustrated but I think on the balance of play they were the better team. I thought they defended better than we did, their breakdown was better and so was their set-piece.” Munster head coach Johann van Graan was unhappy with the treatment replacement fly-half Ben Healy was given by the visitors in the second half. “He did really well, kicked a magnificent penalty. We’re very worried about him, he took two late hits there. We’re going to get him checked out now. It was quite clearly a tactic from the opposition to hit him late and certain things in the game are just unacceptable. He’s now injured because of that.” The South African coach was unable to reveal the nature of Healy’s injury but the player is receiving medical attention. On paper, before a ball was kicked, Munster looked the much stronger when it came to Test players, with seven including Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray, who was named in World Rugby’s team of the decade last week. But without the baying Munster faithful, Harlequins were able to hold their own, particularly in the first half. Facing a swirling wind, Munster took a 6-0 half-time lead thanks to two penalties from former Northampton fly-half JJ Hanrahan. Harlequins were relieved to see Hanrahan overcook a touch-finder from a penalty, prior to which fly-half Marcus Smith had done well to deny full-back Mike Haley in the right corner. However, 21-year-old Smith also missed two penalty attempts, the second from 47 metres. Then, an Alex Dombrandt try from a Danny Care crossfield kick was disallowed for a forward pass by wing Cadan Murley. Tadgh Beirne, who was named man of the match, looked to have a good chance to get Munster ahead just before the interval when he burst into the Harlequins 22 only for flanker James Chisholm, on his 100th appearance for the Quarters, to go offside deliberately and end up in the sin bin. Gustard added: “I am frustrated because we gave them field position, we didn’t manage the field as well as we could have done in the first half, not because of a lack of desire, just a bit of execution. There were a lot of good things but ultimately the feeling is our discipline and accuracy let us down.” With Danny Care giving up a penalty for a shoulder on Keith Earls, Munster’s opening try came from the resulting line-out as Quins flanker Will Evans collapsed the maul, prompting both a yellow card and a penalty try. Despite some decent attacking play in the second half including a try from Murley who looked dangerous all game, Quins’ discipline continued to unravel with Dombrandt also seeing yellow for a shoulder charge on Healy. The resulting penalty led to flanker Gavin Coombes pushing over to give Munster their 14-point lead to finish the game.

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