Munster 41 Toulouse 16
By Simon Lewis
Key moment: Munster never trailed this contest but it was delicately poised right up to the 74th minute when Tyler Bleyendaal slotted his fourth penalty of the evening. Until then Toulouse had stayed in touch and were gathering serious momentum after wing Paul Perez scored a try in the 55th minute, converted by Jean-Marc Doussain to narrow the score to 24-16. It made for a nervous 15 minutes after that until Toulouse went offside at a ruck and from the edge of the 22, the Munster fly-half restored the lead to 11 points, effectively ending French resistance with six minutes to go. Time enough to two more tries.
Talking point: Another proud European occasion at Thomond Park as Munster reached the Champions Cup semi-finals in their first return to the knockout rounds in three seasons, blowing Toulouse away in a manner that echoed their 47-23 win over the French giants in 2014. That time the victory sent them to France for a semi against the mighty Toulon in their own back yard in Marseille. This time they will wait for the outcome of Sunday’s quarter between Saracens and Glasgow. If the Scots stage an upset it will be off to Murrayfield but if all goes to form, then a win for defending champions Sarries will hand Munster a home-country semi-final at Aviva Stadium on April 22 or 23.
Delighted for this man 🙌🏻
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) April 1, 2017
@john_ryan_88 MOTM #MUNvTOU pic.twitter.com/eFdepIWzsX
Key man: As well as Duncan Williams performed, there was a standout performance from try-scoring forward John Ryan, the tighthead prop, who put in a phenomenal shift in the loose to earn the man of the match award.
Ref watch: Irish-born, English-affiliated referee JP Doyle had a busy day, sin-binning Toulouse No.8 Francois Cros in the second minute for a late and high hit on Duncan Williams, but he otherwise frustrated Munster throughout, ignoring home dominance at the scrum, disallowing a home try for a debatable Tommy O’Donnell knock-on and ignoring what seemed a clear-cut forward pass for Toulouse’s 55th minute try.
Injuries: Toulouse were also forced to make a change just before kick-off when Scotland lock Richie Gray failed to finish the warm-up. Munster were dealt further blows when they lost a trio of Ireland stars in the second half. Captain Peter O’Mahony limped off in the 50th minute with what looked like a thigh problem, followed by Keith Earls six minutes later and 10 minutes after that CJ Stander hobbled off, his right ankle already heavily strapped from earlier treatment..
Next up: With a semi-final place booked in three weeks, Munster return to their chase for a Guinness Pro12 home semi-final when Glasgow Warriors visit Cork next Saturday night (7:35pm). With four more rounds of the regular season to play, second-placed Munster are on course for the play-offs, lying 10 points clear of fifth-placed Scarlets. A top-two finish, though, is the main objective, and Rassie Erasmus’s side lie two points behind leaders Leinster, are four points clear of Ospreys in third.
Match report
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 all of 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.
There were changes to both teams before kick-off, with Munster’s influential scrum-half Conor Murray, who has been nursing a shoulder injury, replaced by Duncan Williams. Joe Tekori was brought into Toulouse’s engine room for Scottish lock Richie Gray.
The French club’s discipline was poor from the off, number eight Cros seeing yellow for an elbow on Williams and back row colleague Thierry Dusautoir infringing at a maul.
Soon after, the Toulouse captain was unable to prevent the onrushing Ryan grounding the ball for the opening try. Bleyendaal converted and then tagged on a right-sided penalty.
Munster captain Peter O’Mahony soared for two line-out steals early on but Toulouse gained a foothold with a bulldozing 20-phase attack. Although Florian Fritz missed a long range penalty, Doussain was able to split the posts from closer in.
Bleyendaal and Doussain swapped penalties after 26 and 31 minutes, the Kiwi punishing a high tackle from Tekori and Toulouse returning the favour after Gael Fickou had gone close to grounding a Doussain grubber kick.
Munster had a strong finish to the half, Donnacha Ryan’s overhead pass releasing Rory Scannell up the left wing before Bleyendaal had a try ruled out for a prior knock-on from Tommy O’Donnell.
Williams also blocked a clearance kick to almost force an opportunist try, but the men in red had no points to show for their pressure and Doussain drilled over a monster penalty to close the gap further.
Bleyendaal did likewise from halfway just a couple of minutes into the second period, and then a clever peel off a line-out maul paved the way for Stander’s 47th minute try.
The conversion was slid just wide by Bleyendaal but he nailed a 53rd minute penalty to give Munster a 15-point cushion.
Toulouse hit back with a brilliantly-constructed seven-pointer from Samoan winger Perez in the left corner. Replays showed Yoann Maestri’s pass to Perez appeared to go forward, but referee JP Doyle and TMO David Grashoff ruled there was no conclusive proof, and Doussain’s difficult conversion went over off the right hand post.
With O’Mahony and Stander both off the pitch, Munster had to dig deep and their defence came up trumps, forcing knock-ons and clawing back territory before Bleyendaal punished Arthur Bonneval for not releasing.
The New Zealander’s 74th-minute penalty had Munster out of reach and they duly added some late gloss.
A big tackle from Jaco Taute forced a turnover and Sweetnam dribbled through to go over unopposed, before Bleyendaal’s inviting pass out to the left flank played in Conway, with the Kiwi adding a classy conversion.
