Murray Kinsella reports from Stade Marcel-Michelin
ANTHONY FOLEY WAS proud of Munster’s display of mental strength to secure a last-minute losing bonus point away to Clermont, although he admitted his side did not capitalise enough on first-half ascendancy.
Ian Keatley’s last-gasp penalty from 35 metres out, following a Fritz Lee indiscretion, allowed Munster to draw the final scoreline back to 26-19, thereby securing a bonus point that may prove crucial.
Foley’s men face a trip to Saracens in round five of the pool stages in January, before welcoming Sale Sharks to Thomond Park a week later.
The Munster head coach took some encouragement from the manner in which his side secured their single match point this evening, having trailed 26-9 with just seven minutes left on the clock.
“We do take it for granted that any Munster team will fight to the bitter end anyway, but sometimes we’ve got to give them credit when their backs are to the wall. They did fight and they did get back within seven and get us something out of here.
Clermont celebrate Damien Chouly’s second try. Source: James Crombie/INPHO
“We’re still alive; we’re not dead until the 80th minute against Sale in Thomond Park. We’ll fight ‘till the end and see how many points we can accumulate between now and that moment.”
That said, the concession of two first-half tries was damaging to Munster’s prospects of reaching the knock-out stages this season, particularly the second score through Nao Nakaitaci.
Foley believes that impressive effort from the Fiji-born wing was one of the key turning points in the game, and Munster will rue the manner in which they lost concentration.
“I thought we did quite well when Felix was sin-binned; I think we conceded three points in that period of time, but the game had slowed down to a level that allowed them to maintain dominance.
“We were still basically playing on our heels then, but that tends to happen when you’re down to 14. You have to batten down the hatches a small bit. Then the cross-field kick and the try [through Damien Chouly], the floodgates could have opened.
Click Here: springbok rugby Jerseys
Tommy O’Donnell tracks back to halt Fritz Lee. Source: James Crombie/INPHO
“But in fairness to the boys, they stood firm and we got 10 points of our own in the last few minutes and managed to come away with something.”
Munster’s first-half attacking effort was impressive, featuring much more variety compared to the weekend before in Limerick, as well as some clever passing and several promising involvements from JJ Hanrahan at inside centre.
Still, for all those dashing moments and the pressure Munster managed to build inside the Clermont half, the scores simply didn’t follow often enough. Aurélien Rougerie’s magnificent man-and-ball hit on Keatley was a telling blow, according to Foley.
“We’d plenty of opportunities in the first half, but we didn’t get them. I think Rougerie made a great read in defence on Keats when we had a clear overlap.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t capitalise on those moments, but it was good to see the boys playing, getting momentum into the game and really having a cut off them. We didn’t get any points out of those moments.”
5 talking points after Anthony Foley’s Munster slipped to defeat in Clermont‘We’ve got to fight for our lives’: O’Mahony ready to dig deep after silver lining in Clermont defeat