Munster player ratings: Victims of Bath’s ‘aerial assault’ as Irish province avoid ‘absolute spanking’ after ‘shambolic start’
Munster Rugby's Thaakir Abrahams and Craig Casey during the Investec Champions Cup match at The Recreation Ground against Bath.
Following Munster’s 40-14 defeat at the hands of Bath, here’s how we rated Clayton McMillan’s charges in their Investec Champions Cup opener.
Munster player ratings
15 Shane Daly: One of the clear targets of Bath’s aerial assault in the first half, and the former 7s star crumbled under the pressure. His positioning and timing were off, and the PREM club ruthlessly exploited that. He got better as the game went on, but by then, the damage was well and truly done. 4
14 Diarmuid Kilgallen: Conceded two turnovers and two penalties in a dire first-half performance where he struggled to deal with the host’s aerial bombardment and waves of attack. Rightly replaced at half-time. A nightmarish shift. 3
13 Tom Farrell: Ran some sharp lines off the shoulder of Dan Kelly, but Bath were wise to the ploy. He managed to spread the ball at times; however, like many of his teammates, the effort was there, but he didn’t get much reward from it. 6
12 Dan Kelly: A few wayward passes, which is expected considering the weather but for the most part, Kelly was solid whether he was carrying to the line, shifting the ball or making defensive reads. 6
11 Thaakir Abrahams: Caught out of position a few times by the excellence of the host’s kicking game. He was one of the better exponents under the high ball and threatened when he did get the ball in hand and chased relentlessly. 6
10 JJ Hanrahan: Flashes of brilliance, but overall, he was hurried and harassed by a wave of Bath back-rowers who constantly caught him on the back foot. Like his half-back partner, he was out-kicked and smarted by the Bath half-backs. 5
9 Craig Casey: One of Munster’s best on a forgettable night of Champions Cup rugby. His service was sharp and accurate, and he snipped over for a well-taken try. At times, he caused havoc with his box kicks and pitched in with a try assist too. Unfortunately for him, Ben Spencer and Finn Russell were simply better. 7
The forward pack
8 Gavin Coombes: Toiled valiantly throughout the game, getting his hands on the ball as much as possible, attempting to batter his side back into the game, but was mostly unsuccessful. Effort is always there, but Bath recognised the threat he poses and shut him down. 6
7 John Hodnett: Conceded a pair of turnovers, struggled to get gain-line, and his impact was largely nullified by the brutal Bath pack. Replaced early in the second half. 5
6 Tadhg Beirne (c): He looked somewhat baffled that his clearly illegal action in impeding Bath’s maul resulted in a penalty try and yellow card, but the referee was spot on; it was clearly cynical. Combative and busy upon his return, but he lacked some accuracy with some of his passing and breakdown work. 6
5 Tom Ahern: Like much of the Munster pack, he was unable to swing momentum despite being incredibly busy and throwing his weight into contact and getting his hands on the ball plenty. 6
4 Edwin Edogbo: A glimmer of hope in a shambolic start to the game after replacing Jean Kleyn, who withdrew for personal reasons. Some real bite in his carries and defensive hits. Rewarded with a try. Replaced after emptying the tank for 54 minutes, before returning for a cameo at the back-end of the game. 7
3 John Ryan: The Munster scrum was hammered for much of the first half, with the early Beirne yellow certainly not helping. Ryan’s scrummaging was a feature of his game, but that has not been the case this campaign and Bath capitalised. 3
2 Diarmuid Barron: Lineouts and scrums were horrendous in the opening quarter and some. Barron has to cop that and the penalty that he conceded. Replaced at half-time and rightly so. 3
1 Jeremey Loughman: A late inclusion into the starting XV, and was quite clearly the best of the run-on front row. Still backtracked in the scrum more often than not, but managed to turn the tide on occasion. 6
Replacements: The Munster bench faced an impossible task of overturning a 35-14 deficit at one of the toughest away venues in European rugby, but to their credit, they made a decent fist of it. Lee Barron and Michael Ala’alatoa improved the set pieces, Ruadhan Quinn was sharp, and Alex Kendellen was lively. Alex Nankivell was also industrious. The bench was unable to add to the scoreline, but they saved the club’s blushes and made sure that this did not turn into an absolute spanking. 6