Munster rugby team’s head coach, Graham Rowntree, anticipates a challenging match with the Sharks next week. This comes after the team’s disappointing performance in Cape Town, their third of the five opening URC games, against the Stormers.
Despite substantial issues throughout the lineout and scrum, Munster seemed on course to extend their victory streak against the Stormers when a try by Gavin Coombes, facilitated by Conor Murray, reduced the gap to just two points against the home side with 12 minutes left on the clock.
A stirring comeback seemed on the cards, with the lag narrowed to 21-19. However, the final minutes saw Munster unravel as both teams fervently hunted for a decisive score and a bonus point for achieving three tries.
Five minutes before the match ended, Coombes yielded a penalty, allowing Damian Willemse to widen the Stormers’ lead to 24-19. After Jack Crowley’s faulty restart led to a turnover, Willemse put his team eight points ahead with a successful drop goal three minutes before the game’s conclusion.
Munster could have clinched two bonus points with one last try, but to their dismay, Billy Burns’s pass was intercepted. Ruhan Nel seized on the opportunity, racing in for his second try of the match to a stadium of 28,000 spectators in Cape Town.
Rowntree expressed his disappointment post-match, “We practically defeated ourselves,” he declared. He lamented the squandered chances, ones that could have tilted the scales in their favour. For now, the team’s focus is on sticking together and addressing their mistakes while preparing for the impending match next week.
The Stormers had a lead of 14-12 at the close of the initial half. When a hopeful move by Munster dissolved due to an ill-timed pass from Crowley not connecting with Mike Haley, Suleman Hartzenberg raced to intercept and score from his own 22.
Willemse successfully converted, but a last minute alteration to Munster’s team saw Alex Nankivell absent. Instead, Seán O’Brien moved to centre position and Coombes shifted to the bench in a six-two replacement. Tom Farrell has been playing brilliantly following his transfer from Connacht in the summer. An opportunity was presented by a Shane Daly block down and Farrell, as centre, completed the try. Munster regained the lead when Eoghan Clarke, the substitution hooker, rounded off a strong lineout move with a try in the left corner, bringing the score to 12-7.
Nonetheless, the Stormers managed to stay in the lead by two points during halftime. This was mainly due to Marcel Theunissen, the flanker, who slipped underneath Jean Kleyn and Tom Ahern to score a try after a simple tap and go. A well-executed manoeuvre involving five passes let Nel score his first try seven minutes post-restart, widening the gap to 21-12. But, Munster’s set-piece troubles let the Stormers dominate and give a crushing defeat to Rowntree’s team, who struggled with speculations about Crowley’s prowess at outside half.
The Stormers took advantage of this, causing Munster’s downfall. Despite Coombes scoring, the Stormers had inflicted a substantial loss to the Munster side, who will face an uphill battle to regroup as they journey to Durban next week.
Scoring rundown: Hartzenberg and Willemse collaborated for a try and conversion in 6th minute (7-0), Farrell and Crowley did the same in the 18th minute (7-7), Clarke in 26th minute (7-12), Theunissen and Willemse on 34th minute (14-12). The score at half-time was 14-12. Post restart, R Nel and Willemse in the 47th minute (21-12); then Coombes and Crowley on the 69th minute (21-19). Willemse did a penalty in the 75th minute (24-19) and a drop goal in the 77th minute (27-19), which was followed by R Nel try and Willemse conversion in the 82nd minute with a closing score of 34-19.
The STORMERS squad included W Gelant, S Hartzenberg, R Nel, D du Plessis (captain), L Zas, D Willemse, P de Wet, T Sithole, J Dweba, N Fouche, A Smith, JD Schickerling, M Theunissen, BJ Dixon, and K Morabe. Substitutions occurred when R van Heerdan replaced Schickerling at the 48 minute mark, AH Venter replaced Dweba in the 50th minute, and similar swaps took place for the rest of the players over the course of the match.
On the MUNSTER side, the starting lineup was M Haley, C Nash, T Farrell, S O’Brien, S Daly, J Crowley, C Murray, J Loughman, N Scannell, J Ryan, J Kleyn, T Beirne (capt), T Ahern, A Kendellen, and J O’Donoghue. E Clarke replaced Scannell for the 25 to 35 minute interval, followed by B Burns exchanging places with Daly at 48 minutes. Significant shifts happened at the 50th minute when G Coombes, Clarke, and S Archer subbed in for O’Donoghue, Scannell, and J Ryan respectively.
The game was officiated by M Adamson of Scotland.