Benetton v Munster: Five takeaways as ‘fear and trepidation’ for the Irish gives way to ‘commanding seven-try display’
Under-fire Munster produced a professional performance at Benetton, who had the misfortune of seeing Sebastian Negri, inset, exit early
Following Munster’s comfortable 45-15 United Rugby Championship victory over Benetton in Treviso, here are our five takeaways.
Top line
After a bruising week that generated negative headlines surrounding their appointment of Roger Randle as assistant coach for next season, this well carried out Italian job proved to be a timely antidote for Clayton McMillan’s under-fire Munster.
They had travelled amid an atmosphere of fear and trepidation – they had lost six on the bounce away from home since winning at Ospreys in December, and the weekend results elsewhere in the URC had all gone against their play-off ambitions – but they rewarded their large travelling support here with a commanding seven-try display.
The opening salvo was a tale of two set-pieces. Munster’s scrum didn’t start well, conceding a fourth minute penalty, but they profited three minutes later from a messed-up Benetton lineout when good hands gave Calvin Nash a chance to make the corner that he didn’t decline.
Crowley was wide with a penalty kick after Jeremy Loughman was taken off the ball, but Munster struck for a 17th minute unconverted try scored by Tom Farrell when Alex Nankivell went to the edge after a Craig Casey snip unsettled the Italian defence.
It was 10 minutes later when Jacob Umaga cut the margin with a penalty, but the relief was temporary as Gavin Coombes burrowed over the line six and a half minutes before the interval after Munster went to the corner with the penalty they won at the scrum.
They took this 19-3 lead with them to the break and scramble defence led by Nankivell kept it intact in the early stages of the second half before a Casey 50:22 was the prompt for the pressure that ended with Jean Kleyn scoring the 46th minute bonus point try.
Benetton had a try back through Bautista Bernasconi but Munster struck again on 56 minutes through Alex Kendellen. It then became a rout with Tadhg Beirne getting over three minutes later to make it 38-10.
It petered out from there. Munster even spent seven minutes with just 13 players after Crowley and Casey copped overlapping yellow cards before Brian Gleeson scored his team’s seventh followed by Alessandro Garbisi’s consolation.
The talisman
By the time they kicked off in Italy on Saturday night, Munster had dropped to ninth on the URC table, one spot outside the play-offs places following a weekend where top eight rivals Cardiff, Bulls and Connacht had all won.
That was the sort of developing story that could have ignited nerves before they took to the pitch, but they had the perfect players to counteract all that in rejuvenated out-half Crowley and willing accomplice Casey.
Having regained the Ireland No.10 shirt, Crowley hasn’t allowed the on-and-off-pitch Munster doom and gloom affect his confidence and after standing out in recent defeats, he was a talisman here in this restorative victory.
He led his team around the park confidently and intelligently, and his tactical kicking was especially precise. Check out his manipulation of the penalty advantage situation 16 minutes in the second half, finding Kendellen out wide with a sweetly lofty crosskick.
Crowley wasn’t just good on the front foot, with his defensive composure best seen in the opening half in the unfussy way he comfortably beat Federico Ruzza in a race back to a loose ball and kicked clear.
There were three missed kicks off the tee to go with the five he nailed, but nothing to knock his team off track, and his effort was complemented by Casey taking on the gain line and adding greatly to the tempo.
In keeping with the unsettled nature of Munster’s season, though, it wasn’t all perfect in Italy as both their half-backs were later shown yellows by referee Ben Whitehouse. Crowley was unable to roll at a 63rd-minute breakdown while Casey was punished three minutes later for a deliberate knock-on.
They left with the score 38-10 and while there were no points conceded in their absence, the sanctions they received were a reminder of how the situation can quickly alter for a team. No repeat cards can be countenanced next weekend versus Ulster.
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Poorly coached
While so much focus in recent times has been on Munster, this essentially was a meeting of two sides producing way less than the sum of their parts as the Italian club is stacked with big names who haven’t been getting the results either.
They should be challenging for the URC play-offs, not getting packed off as also-rans weeks ago in the race for the eight. This dreariness continued here as they were 12 points down before they finally explored the other side of the halfway line on 20 minutes.
Their lineout was vulnerable throughout; see how they softly botched a five-metre throw at a time when they were still in with a chance of launching a fightback, and their lack of imagination was highlighted by how they couldn’t score points during Munster’s card trouble period.
Benetton smacked of a poorly coached side low on enthusiasm after last weekend’s Challenge Cup exit, and you could clearly see why they already have Wayne Pivac signed up to take over next season. His arrival can’t come soon enough given how their form has miserably trailed away.
Despair for Negri
Rugby can be a cruel sport at times, and it was evident here on 20 minutes when Sebastian Negri – on the occasion of his 100th appearance – had just finally given the home fans something to cheer.
Cantering through the Munster defence, it was the first time his team had gone on the attack, but the pep in the 31-year-old’s step quickly turned to despair as he did his hamstring and was inconsolable trudging to the sideline.
It wasn’t just the fact that the match had just abruptly ended, his milestone appearance was his first start since his return to fitness from the ankle injury that ruled him out of Italy’s vibrant Six Nations campaign.
He had been benched in recent Challenge Cup weeks, but was promoted to start against Munster for what should have been an auspicious night in his career. Instead, it sadly ended with his head in his hands and the disgruntlement of another season-ruining spell on the sidelines.
Race for the eight
Round 15 in the URC was certainly a weekend for the away sides in the URC as five travelling teams came out on top in the eight matches.
One visiting team that didn’t get the result it desired was the Sharks, ruling them out of play-off contention and reducing the race to the eight to just nine teams with three rounds of matches remaining.
As galvanising as this victory was for Munster in Italy, restoring them to sixth place on the ladder after they had slipped to ninth pre-match, they have no margin for error at the moment, such is the congestion.
Just four points separate the Lions in fourth place on 48 points from Connacht in ninth on 44 points, with the squeezed middle consisting of Ulster on 47, Munster and Cardiff on 46 and the Bulls on 45.
It means Munster hosting Ulster at Thomond Park is a massive fixture next weekend. Not since December, when Gloucester and Ospreys were beaten on successive weekends, have McMillan’s team won two in a row, but the challenge is now to back up what they did in Italy on Saturday night.