Munster boss identifies ‘key areas’ which proved costly in Bordeax-Begles defeat
Munster interim head coach Ian Costello and the Irish province's players during their Champions Cup campaign.
Munster interim head coach Ian Costello was left to pick up the pieces after their Investec Champions Cup campaign came to an end courtesy of a 47-29 defeat against Bordeax-Begles on Saturday.
The Irish province came into the eagerly anticipated quarter-final clash at Stade Chaban-Delmas in a confident mood after clinching a narrow away victory over La Rochelle last week but they came off second best in most departments against Bordeaux, who eventually outscored them by six tries to four.
After the match, Costello identified his side’s misfiring lineout – they lost nine out of 21 of their own throw-ins – and their in accuracy in possession as key reasons for their downfall.
“Prendy (Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast) spoke about belief,” he said. “We’re a team that can score quickly if we can keep the ball. Our squad is really fit, very well-conditioned.
‘We looked to make some fixes around our lineout’
“It was about staying calm and composed. We looked to make some fixes around our lineout and we made sure we were more direct in terms of our handling.
“We forced a few passes that we didn’t need to when we felt they were under pressure so for the second half it was around addressing that – narrow the focus, stay calm and we could overturn that lead.”
Bordeaux held a 29-10 lead at half-time and narrowed the gap when Andrew Smith crossed for a try early in the second half but Bordeaux soon regained the initiative via a Matthieu Jalibert penalty and a try from Maxime Lamothe which gave them a 37-15 lead by the hour mark.
“I think if we started the second half well we were capable of overturning a 19-point lead and we missed a couple of opportunities with a forward pass off a maul and an overthrown lineout in that 40-50 minute period when we had them under pressure and we needed to score early,” said Costello.
“But yeah, first 50, very disappointed with.
“I suppose [there were] two key areas. We struggled with lineout and turned over a lot of ball. Of all teams in European rugby, you turn over the ball against them, you get punished and we did.”
Costello couldn’t hide his disappointment with
‘It’s something we have to look at in the cold light of day’
“We know they’re the best defensive lineout, that’s a real strength of theirs,” he said. “We’re disappointed. It’s something we have to look at in the cold light of day.
“As you said, in that last 15-20 minutes, when we got our game going – and I don’t mean just spirit and character. I never want to take that for granted. I think that was incredible, the way the lads fought back.
“There was so much quality in the way we put them under pressure. Just really disappointing not to get that last score to take us within seven with four or five minutes on the clock when they were down to 13. I would have loved to have seen what that looked like.”
