MUNSTER 20-19 TOULON
Munster battled back from the brink to win an absolute clinker at Thomond Park.
Trailing by six points with less than five minutes to go, Andrew Conway ran in a beauty from 40 metres out, leaving several Toulon players in his wake, to clinch the match for his side.
From start to finish, it was a nerve-shredder. It ended as it began, with Fields of Athenry ringing through the air and Munster a team heralded and roared on.
Munster were forced to absorb some fierce Toulon pressure in the opening 15 minutes and most observers would freely admit they were fortunate to be just 6-0 behind. So it was, however, as late outhalf replacement Anthony Belleau kicked a penalty and dropped a goal.
The hosts roared back into the contest and were rewarded when Conor Murray spotted a Toulon error at a ruck on their tryline. Indicating a spilled ball to referee Nigel Owens, Murray smartly dotted down as everyone else froze. Ian Keatley converted and landed a penalty soon after.
Keatley extended the lead to 13-6 after 55 minutes when Munster brought on an entirely new front row and immediately won a scrum penalty to send Thomond Park wild.
Cheers were soon turned to boos as Francois Trinh-Duc, who had made it 13-9 with a penalty, threw a pass to Mathieu Bastareaud that looked borderline forward. Owens was happy for play to go on and the TMO backed him up and awarded a try to Chris Ashton. The home fans were livid, on 67 minutes, when Owens awarded another penalty and Trinh-Duc made it 19-13.
Munster were not done yet and, after Niall Scannell went close, Conway scorched in a beauty. Keatley converted and Munster led 20-19 with four minutes to play.
https://twitter.com/KeejayOV2/status/980116120857399297
There were still big tackles and plays to make but Munster stood up. Of course the did. This team is made of stern, bloody-minded stuff.
Into the last four after one hell of a war in Limerick.
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