Munster player ratings: Front row demolished as ‘South African World Cup-winning stars’ turn screw on ‘out of depth’ visitors
Munster player ratings: Front row demolished as 'South African World Cup-winning stars' turn screw on 'out of depth' visitors
Munster were destroyed 45-0 by the Sharks on Saturday afternoon in URC action, as the hosts ran riot over their Irish visitors.
Here’s how we rated the Munster players:
Backs
15 Mike Haley: Looked lively when allowed to attack from deep, but it was a performance that wasn’t short of errors. His biggest calamity came when he notably dropped what should have been an easy catch from the skies. Removed after pulling up with a suspected groin injury. 5
14 Calvin Nash: Attacked well when he had the opportunity, and really grew into the game. Beat three defenders from six carries, but did go backwards on more than one occasion and was guilty of being caught in possession, giving away a penalty on his own five-metre line from which the Sharks scored. 5
13 Tom Farrell: Deft touches of the ball, and looked to make a difference with each charge. His contributions slimmed as the match went on, however, as Munster had limited possession.Ā 5
12 Alex Nankivell: Started fast but faded in the middle part of the game, spending much of his time shifting the ball on rather than making any yardage himself. All this being said, as the match entered the final quarter, he took the game into his own hands, carrying the ball into contact as he looked to turn the tide. He was one of the more impressive Munster players in this whitewash. 6
11 Shane Daly: Spent a lot of his time tidying up the messy ball. Poorly dropped a high ball in the first half, and gave the ball away on multiple occasions. He did use his footwork to stand up a couple of defenders, however, making 44 total metres. Defensively, he was weak, although he made one huge hit on Sharks Le Roux Malan early into the second half, which was received well by his teammates.Ā 4
10 JJ Hanrahan: Controlled the game well in the early periods. He made plenty of intelligent kicks in behind the Sharks’ defence, but failed to create any real momentum from those around him. 6
9 Ethan Coughlan: Kept the intensity high but struggled in defence, particularly against much larger men. Munster’s attack appeared to have more cohesion after he exited the field. 5
Forwards
8 Gavin Coombes: Fumbled the ball as Munster looked to be going over in the first half, but made a great turnover on the floor shortly after to halt a promising Sharks attack. He was a defensive rock and a carrying machine. 7
7 John Hodnett: Put his body on the line with some huge hits, but was also guilty of mistiming a couple of tackles. Threw a terrible offload forward straight into Sharks‘ hands and missed four tackles, but his effort in defence almost made up for his below-par technique. 5
6 Sean Edogbo: A quiet outing where he was only found in the lineout. Noticeably missing from the blindside of the scrum when the Sharks attacked his wing, as he had been dragged into the melee. 3
5 Tom Ahern: The ‘slim reaper’ had the ball turned over early on, but defensively was solid.Ā 5
4 Jean Kleyn: Made some huge tackles, but once again, with the ball in hand, he looked suspect. Certainly put in the miles for his side, though. 6
3 Michael Alaāalatoa: Made some vital tackles, but was dominated in the scrum, conceded penalties and did nothing in attack, literally. 3
2 Diarmuid Barron: Missed three tackles and made only 50 per cent of his lineouts. Went backwards in the carry and was hauled off after an overthrow and a stolen lineout early into the second half. 2
1 Michael Milne: Conceded a scrum penalty early on, and struggled throughout. Whatever Alaāalatoa did, Milne did worse. 2
Replacements: Paddy Patterson added a sense of order to the Munster attack, but the rest simply couldn’t live with the speed of the Sharks’ attack. The entire 23 looked out of their depth against the South African World Cup-winning stars. 4