Munster v Lions: Five takeaways as ‘harum-scarum’ contest featuring alleged spit ends with ‘much desired rewards’ for both teams
Munster's Craig Casey and, inset, Quan Horn of the Lions
Following Munster’s tense 24-17 win over the Lions in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Thomond Park on Saturday, Planet Rugby highlights five takeaways from a night of reckoning in Limerick.
Top line
It was s*** or get off the pot for Clayton McMillan’s Munster, as Friday’s final round results pushed his inconsistent charges down into ninth place and facing the catastrophic situation of having no Champions Cup rugby next season, never mind no qualification for the URC quarter-finals.
So troubled was the Kiwi by his team’s most recent limp surrender that he had publicly harangued them for a lack of desire in the loss last weekend at Connacht. His hope would have been that his sharp words would provoke a furious response, and they did – even if it was harum-scarum at times.
They lost three key players to pre-game injury, including Jack Crowley. They then gave up a 14th-minute intercept try when Dan Kelly gifted possession to Quan Horn, having initially hit the front with a seventh-minute Evan O’Connell score.
After a successful JJ Hanrahan penalty kick, two more players – wings Andrew Smith and Sean O’Brien for deliberate 27th and 31st minute knock-ons – were lost to yellow cards, leaving them with 13 players for six first-half minutes and facing going in at the break four points down following Kelly Mpeku’s 35th minute score for a 14-10 lead.
A gutsy clock-in-the-red response from Craig Casey turned it around, and a 54th-minute Tom Ahern try followed before Chris Smith’s 60th-minute penalty reduced the gap to seven.
A gruellingly intense period now materialised. The rain fell, greasing up the exchanges. There was an unsubstantiated spitting allegation against the Lions, a footrace to ball trundling behind the try line that was won by O’Brien ahead of Angelo Davids, and also plenty of bodies on the line defending but no further score.
That left Munster to finish fifth on the table and the Lions in seventh, guaranteeing both clubs much desired rewards – end-of-May quarter-final action and participation in next season’s Champions Cup.
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Fabulous leadership
You feared for Munster with this match just about to start. Having already had to reshuffle with the late loss of Alex Nankivell in their midfield and Fineen Wycherley in their second row, it emerged that Crowley hadn’t taken the pitch for the kick-off and that the inconsistent Hanrahan was starting.
Amid their struggles throughout 2025/26, Crowley and Tadhg Beirne had been the two players lifting them above the level of dross consistently served up.
With neither facing the Lions, it was up to the group of remaining players, many of whom had too often produced performances that left much to be desired, to produce and get an important job done.
They had backbone in the likes of the experienced Mike Haley, whose 50/22 was the catalyst for the opening try and whose backfield coverage was clear in his 29th minute mark with Munster a carded man down.
There was also great promise from a couple of youngsters, O’Connell getting the first score in a rare start and Brian Gleeson earning a penalty that was kicked for points after his disappointment a few minutes earlier of getting held up over the line.
There was plenty of backs-to-the-wall defending to savour as well, especially the repelling of two Lions mauls from five metre lineouts, one in each half, and a tapped close-in penalty with Alex Kendellen leading the celebrations.
However, the biggest cheer must go to scrum-half Casey, who was captain on the night. It was his unnecessary kick with his team down to 13 that gave the Lions the possession for a lead-taking try approaching in the interval, but his response was a tonic, scoring a try and making the break to set up Ahern. That was fabulous leadership.
Lions’ decision-making
The Lions had every right to feel pleased with themselves in their Limerick hotel on Friday night. It had been a damaging week reputationally with their Springbok prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye banned for 18 months due to an anti-doping rule violation.
However, the results that came in from Belfast and Edinburgh confirmed them as first-time quarter-finalists before having to play Munster. For a club with the enviable history of a hat-trick of successive Super Rugby finals from 2016 to 2018, they had finally demonstrated they can cope with the demands of the URC at the fifth time of asking and it was cause for celebration.
A series of 12th, two 9ths and 11th place finishes was not a great reflection but Ivan van Rooyen’s team came good in 2026 and a run of six home wins in Johannesburg helped them to punch their quarter-final ticket.
That achievement could have left them giving up this round 18 fixture, but they didn’t as they reproduced the sort of intensity and commitment that had Leinster worried for long periods last weekend at 14-7 before giving way 31-7 in the closing minutes.
In Limerick, their flankers were top-notch and their team’s dedication to show their best version of themselves was evident in how Darrien Landsberg held Gleeson up over the line on 13 minutes. A score then would have allowed Munster to jump 12-0 clear with a kick to come, but that crucial intervention became the foundation for an effort that should have resulted in a 14-10 interval lead.
Instead, the Lions were left to rue the decision of Morne van den Berg to cheaply kick the ball away from his 22 instead of keeping it in the hands and seeing if they could create one last attack with Munster still playing with 13 players.
The outcome of that folly was a home team try some minutes later, and it was an example, along with the pair of missed maul chances and a wasted tapped penalty, that the Lions’ next big step – having finally made the play-offs – is tightening up the decision-making and execution on the road.
If they don’t, their play-off adventure will last just a single match. Not since a 10-9 win over Zebre in October 2024 have they won a match outside South Africa.
Alleged spit
It was 13 months ago when Andrea Piardi infuriated the Thomond Park support with his refereeing of Munster’s loss to the Bulls.
The Italian had incorrectly reduced Munster down to 14 men after replacement front-rower Stephen Archer was replaced in the second half, with Kendellen later brought back onto the pitch after missing 13 minutes on the sidelines – and it was the major gaffe in a display where he struggled all the way through.
The general standard of officiating across the URC is still nowhere near where it needs to be. Last week’s erroneous red card for Diarmuid Barron was an example, but Piardi deserves kudos for the growth in his refereeing.
Whereas before, his communication was confusing, and dithering indecision unfolded with regularity. However, he has hugely improved his game management and no longer looks like a bundle of nerves when making a tough call.
The way he handled the potentially poisonous 63rd-minute spitting allegation was a case in point. He listened to Munster captain Casey, checked in on Barron, who was the alleged victim, and then allowed TMO Stefano Penne time to try and sift through the footage to see if anything could be detected.
He didn’t rush his TMO, but with no light-shedding replay forthcoming after the initial stoppage, he showed authority when delivering his decision to the respective captains. It was done in the sort of way that helped ensure the remainder of the match didn’t deteriorate, with the teams getting too pent-up and losing control on the back of the alleged spit.
What the result means for the play-offs
This Munster-Lions match was the final fixture of URC round 18, and its conclusion has confirmed the quarter-final line-up. Munster’s bonus-less win lifted them from ninth place to fifth, and they will now travel to the Bulls for their knockout match on May 30.
The losing bonus point claimed by the Lions left them finishing in seventh spot, earning them a May 30 quarter-final away to Leinster. Rather than fly home from Ireland and spend the coming week in South Africa, it would make sense if they stayed put and have a jet lag-free preparation versus the defending champions in Dublin.
The URC’s other two quarter-finals will feature the No.1 seed Glasgow hosting No.8 Connacht on May 29, and the No.3 Stormers welcoming Cardiff to Cape Town the following day.
One thing about the bonus point secured by the Lions in Limerick: their lift into seventh place guaranteed them Champions Cup qualification next season. If they had finished eighth, their participation in that top-tier cup competition in 2026/27 would have been dependent on Ulster failing to win next Friday’s Challenge Cup final in Bilbao.
Instead, Connacht are in that vulnerable position of knowing that a win for Ulster over Montpellier will grab Richie Murphy’s team a Champions Cup place, leaving Stuart Lancaster’s side to miss out.
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