.jpg)
After the heroics of James Cronin try at the death the previous week I was convinced that Munster were set to steal this game at the end. As Munster continued to pound the Racing line in the last few minutes JJ always stayed central waiting for the ball. He kept pointing at them to keep the ball in, not because he didn't want to take the drop goal but because he wanted them to wind the clock down. If anything the pass to him came too early and gave Racing a chance to go upfield and steal a win. Munster should have been more clinical - a term I'll refer to consistently when discussing Racing - almost NFL like and waited till the last play of the game to take the drop/field goal. I had visions of another ROG vs Northamy moment and would wait to listen to the Michael Corcoran commentary or Titanic music later but the drop goal went wide and it wasn't to be.
I thought before the game that set piece would be key and while it didn't necessarily work out as expected it does leave some work ons for Rowntree and van Graan ahead of the Saracens double header. The scrum held up a lot better than expected. Rowntree has to get some serious credit for that. Yes there were scrums were were driven well back on and also scrums where Murray and CJ had to clean shit up as it retreated but we also won several scrum penalties and free kicks and a better ref would have penalised the Racing hooker for popping up in the scrum continuously. Overall Munster will be happy with this set piece and although Loughman did go off injured the strength in depth is there to cover should he be out for a few weeks.
The lineout was ok. It could have been good but the execution let Munster down on several occasions. Both Racing and Munster picked packs loaded with jumping and counter jumping options. Both teams failed to get it their own way out of touch and it was the variation in Munsters lineout that was impressive. Throws low to the front, lots of movement etc kept Racing guessing. Racing forced this by using two counter pods especially at 2 and 4 making Scannell throw to the tail of the lineout. Throwing and timing mistakes as well as handling errors to the front made the lineout look worse than it was but it was due to good pressure from Racing. Saracens are another good lineout team and van Graan will need to be working on fine tuning things for December.
Overall I thought Munster were a little too much like the Munster of old for long periods. They lacked variation and made things easy for Racing to defend. Far too often the tempo required wasn't there. Murray was ponderous and Munster just weren't clinical enough in cleaning the ruck. Murray spent far to much time remonstrating with the referee rather than looking to get the ball out. Rowntree will need to address this urgently. Larkham may also want to see less of Murray as the distributor. I think Munster should have used more forwards to pick and drive with quick ball around the fringes. It would tie more defenders in, offer variations to the defence and create space wider. The tempo increased considerably when Alby came on but the fact Holland and Wycherley also came on around the same time and are so good at the ruck also contributed.
Some of the back play especially the strike moves were excellent. There were one or two where the timing was off or the pass was slightly behind that caused the runner to stall slightly and the chance was gone. However there was one move in the second half with a pull back and a loop from JJ that fixed the Racing 13 and the Munster runners had a gap a mile wide to gallop into between the winger and outside centre.
JJ was excellent. His place kicking and threat in open play were fantastic. The kick for Conway's try in the corner was sublime under that pressure. Yes the drop goal didn't go over but it was the right call and Munster did the right thing and got in the right area to make it. Again the process was good but the outcome wasn't.
Racing were excellent when they got ball to use. Their wingers and especially Thomas were just so dangerous when they got the ball wide. Munster tried to deprive them of ball but Finn Russell was just excellent and the efficiency with how he used the ball was unreal. He used the ball so well and brought the wingers into play and they were just clinical when they got the ball. Ferreira will be reviewing the tape to figure out how Racing got so much success on the outside.
The drop goal may remain the lingering memory of the game but yet again it was a mere execution issue. The plan, the process etc were all good. They did the right thing but didn't get the reward. Hopefully over the season that evens itself out. It now means bonus points will be vital and Munster probably need to get a result in London or Paris this season. Racing are now in prime position still having to play the Ospreys twice. Munster will have to hope the return of Alun Wyn Jones can fire up the Ospreys to make a difference in the pool.
Two final points
1. The crowd was subdued for long periods but the last 15 mins was like the Thomond Park of old. The players gave the fans a reason to cheer and the crowd responded in spades.
2. Mike Haley played well last night but there was only one person who was even in contention for MOTM and that was Finn Russell. I believe Brian O'Driscoll gave Haley MOTM with such a poor decision that I haven't seen that level of shithousery since Reggie Corrigan picked Joubert as MOTM as Clermont were beaten off the park in half renovated Thomond.