Munster 41-16 Toulouse: Irish province into Champions Cup semi-finals
Last Updated: 01/06/17 9:20am
Munster started and finished strongly to set up a 41-16 win over Toulouse at Thomond Park and a place in the Champions Cup semi-finals for the first time in three years.
Paul Perez's controversially awarded try breathed new life into Toulouse's challenge at 24-16 down but closing tries from Darren Sweetnam, his first in Europe, and replacement Andrew Conway sent the Irish province through in convincing fashion.
Munster were 10 points up in as many minutes, profiting from Francois Cros' early sin-binning as prop and man-of-the-match John Ryan muscled over for a try.
Jean-Marc Doussain's third penalty success - from 44 metres - brought wind-backed Toulouse to within four points (13-9) at the break.
This was a much tighter contest than the 2014 quarter-final in Limerick - which Munster won 47-23 - but either side of Perez's converted effort, Rassie Erasmus' current crop amassed 28 second half points, including a sharp early score from CJ Stander.
Ever-dependable fly-half Tyler Bleyendaal finished with 21 points off the tee, including five penalties, and Sweetnam and Conway gleefully put the result beyond doubt, setting up either a home semi-final against defending champions Saracens or a trip to regular PRO12 rivals Glasgow Warriors.
Man of the match
Turning point
Toulouse conceded 47 points on their only previous visit to Thomond Park and, given their poor form in the Top 14, they needed a good start. What they got was quite the opposite.
Less than two minutes were on the clock when Cros caught Duncan Williams with an elbow and was sent to the sin bin, and Munster scored 10 points in his absence.
Toulouse did rally in the second half and cut the gap to eight through Perez's try but they faded in the final 25 minutes, during which Munster scored 17 unanswered points.
The good
Peter O'Mahony picked up where he left off against England, dominating the Limerick skies as he stole two Toulouse lineouts inside the opening 16 minutes, while scrum-half Williams impressed in the absence of Conor Murray who failed a late fitness test.
Munster props Dave Kilcoyne and John Ryan were also outstanding, the latter scoring a try and playing 77 minutes in a man-of-the-match display, while Bleyendaal was flawless from the tee.
The bad
Toulouse had their spells of pressure but a litany of handling errors cost them dearly. Their starts to both halves were terrible, conceding 10 points without reply in the first 10 minutes and 14 unanswered points after the restart.
Referee JP Doyle can thank his lucky stars Perez's try did not prove crucial. It looked blatantly forward and the awarding of a try even drew a surprised smile from the winger.
Tweet of the match
Stat of the match
15: Number of tackles made by Munster openside Tommy O'Donnell.
Reaction
Munster's runaway triumph was achieved without Ireland star Conor Murray, who was unable to start due to a shoulder injury, while captain Peter O'Mahony, winger Keith Earls and try-scorer Stander were all forced off with injuries during the game.
"I would be lying to you to say I'm not nervous when those guys are not on the field," said Rassie Erasmus. "I am nervous, when you have guys with international experience who are world class players, but in the same breath I must say we have played many games without them when they were on Six Nations duty.
"The group that played the last 15 to 20 minutes have been grinding out away wins without those guys. I think the guys are growing into - I wouldn't say leaders - but growing into handling pressure situations which is great. I am not saying we are mentally where we should be, but we are definitely growing mentally as a team."
After his first experience of playing at Thomond Park, Toulouse captain Thierry Dusautoir said: "It's an amazing crowd, everyone knows it. It would have been nicer for me to win here, to finish with a better score.
"It was something very special to be here and to play against the Munster men. I think we started in a pretty bad way in the first half and the second half too. I think that we could have played a better game today."
