Edinburgh 13-17 Munster: Keith Earls seals Champions Cup quarter-final victory at Murrayfield
Munster's Keith Earls scored twice - including the deciding try with nine minutes to play - vs Edinburgh at Murrayfield as Irish province won record 14th Champions Cup quarter-final; Chris Dean try and boot of Jaco van der Walt had put hosts ahead; Munster to face Saracens in semi-final
By Michael Cantillon at Murrayfield
Last Updated: 28/03/21 6:53pm
A sensational Keith Earls try inside the final 10 minutes earned Munster a record 14th European Cup semi-final place, courtesy of a 17-13 victory over Edinburgh at a chilly but exuberant Murrayfield.
Earls gave Munster the lead in the first half but, despite the Irish province's incredible pedigree in this competition, they struggled to fire a shot in the Scottish capital in a scrappy game of few chances.
Indeed, a Chris Dean try and two penalties from Jaco van der Walt seemed set to hand Edinburgh victory and what would have been just a second European Cup semi-final berth in their history - but that was until Earls' intervention.
Munster will now face Saracens on the weekend of April 19/20/21, travelling to face the Premiership champions at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
Edinburgh started the brighter in front of a crowd of over 36,000, but, having turned down two kickable penalties inside the opening six minutes for kicks to the corner, their pressure was ended when CJ Stander won a crucial defensive penalty deep in the Munster 22.
A third penalty against Munster was awarded in the visitors' 22 on 11 minutes, with Tadhg Beirne sin-binned for cynically killing the ball. The home side kicked to the corner again, but Munster defended desperately and effectively, stemming waves of Edinburgh attacks on top of their try-line before Jack O'Donoghue won a vital turnover penalty under his own posts.
Despite defending for almost all the opening quarter, it was Munster who would score the opening points of the day after 19 minutes, from their very first visit to the Edinburgh 22.
Still down to 14 men, a Conor Murray box-kick and strong Earls chase forced Duhan van der Merwe to knock the ball back over his own try-line and present Munster with a five-metre scrum opportunity. When Henry Pyrgos was pinged for slapping the ball down as Murray attempted to play away, Earls took a quick tap penalty before stepping over.
A Stuart McInally breakdown-penalty earned Edinburgh more territory in the Munster 22 soon after, though, and this time the home side would finally break Munster's resistance to level the tie, with centre Dean diving over.
Edinburgh hit the lead with five minutes of the half remaining when Niall Scannell was penalised for kicking the ball in a ruck, allowing Van der Walt to knock over a simple penalty from close range for 10-7.
Munster lost out-half Joey Carbery directly after that score: the Ireland international limping off with the hamstring injury which had threatened to rule him out from the start, to be replaced by Tyler Bleyendaal.
The visitors began the second period in more confident vain, and when Rory Scannell was caught high by Viliame Mata around the Edinburgh 22, Bleyendaal kicked three points off the tee to level the game once more.
Van der Walt kicked Edinburgh back into the lead when Hamish Watson jackaled superbly to win a penalty just outside the Munster 22 in the 51st minute, but Pyrgos kicked out on the full from the restart, handing Munster a lineout in a dangerous position.
Side entry from Edinburgh loosehead Pierre Schoeman at the resultant maul gave Munster a penalty, which the Irish province kicked to the corner before prop John Ryan knocked on in the act of trying to score on advantage.
Munster turned down a potential shot at three points for a five-metre scrum and it proved the wrong decision when Edinburgh won a huge scrum penalty against the head, relieving enormous pressure.
That looked to be the turning point until nine minutes remaining, when a magnificent Earls finish in the corner turned the game on its head again as Murray offloaded to make the most of an opening down the right-hand side. Bleyendaal's outstanding conversion from the touchline left Edinburgh needing a try due to the four-point cushion.
Despite an onslaught of possession and multi-phase attack from Edinburgh into the closing stages and beyond the 80 minutes, Munster showed phenomenal defence to keep the Scots away from their 22, before clinching yet another memorable European victory.
Having experienced semi-final defeat in Europe for the past two seasons, and four out of the last six, Munster will now be ultra-determined to try and book a first European Cup final place since 2008 - the last year they won the tournament.
