When Munster showed some fight in the second half, it almost resulted in a trip to the sin-bin
Munster head coach Johann Van Graan would later tell BT Sport that Racing 92 started the Champions Cup semi final like ‘a train on fire’. That would be a sight to see but Racing were even more eye-catching than that.
The French side raced into a 21-3 lead after 21 minutes and were winning battles all over the pitch in Bordeaux. Munster were outclassed, outmuscled and outgunned in the first 40 minutes.
The men in red started the second half with some fire and both Andrew Conway and Conor Murray got involved in a feisty exchange with Viremi Vakatawa and Marc Andreu over on the left touchline. Murray simply stood up with Andreu trying to ride him like a back-pack.
Down he crashed but worse was to follow as Vakatawa came over to grab the ball and needle the Munster scrum-half. Murray pushed back hard but the Fijian reacted as if he had been KO’ed by an Anthony Joshua uppercut.
Referee J.P Doyle chatted to the Television Match Official and it was pretty clear that both men wanted the game to continue without any cards being flashed. The T.M.O told Doyle:
“A little bit of handbags… Penalty against 9 [Murray]. 13 [Vakawata] pushes at 9 and he pushes him back. There was no clear contact.”
Good enough for the match officials but not for Munster captain Peter O’Mahony.
Seeking for play to continue with a lineout, O’Mahony tried to cajole Doyle:
“What’s the problem, like? … He fell on his arse!”
Doyle was not for turning and Maxime Machenaud put his side 27-3 ahead with the resulting penalty.
Munster rallied with late scores for Simon Zebo, Rhys Marshall and Andrew Conway but, for many watching, the game appeared to be over as soon as the whistle sounded to bring an end to a strangely one-sided first half.
Out-fought on a big European occasion. Odd, disappointing but no less true.
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