Saracens trounce Munster to reach Champions Cup Final

Saracens booked their place in this year’s Champions Cup final courtesy of a 32-16 victory over Munster at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday.

In a hard-fought but entertaining encounter, Saracens were deserved winners as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored the Irish province by two tries to one. Owen Farrell was in superb goal-kicking form for the victors as he finished with a 22-point haul courtesy of six penalties and two conversions.

The result means Sarries advance to the final which will be played at St James’ Park in Newcastle on May 11 and they now have a chance to win the tournament for the third time.

Meanwhile, it was heartbreak for Munster yet again as they have now lost their seventh Champions Cup semi-final in a row since winning the last of their two titles in 2008.

Sarries held a slight edge during the early stages and opened the scoring as early as the third minute courtesy of a Farrell penalty after CJ Stander infringed at a ruck.

The home side continued to dominate over the next five minutes but had little to show for their efforts with a wayward drop goal attempt from Farrell the closest they came to extending their lead.

Although Munster were slowly getting into the game they drew level in the 10th minute via a Tyler Bleyendaal penalty after Mako Vunipola played the ball from an illegal position at a breakdown.

But Sarries were gaining the upper-hand and midway through the half, they regained the lead when Farrell landed another penalty when Mike Haley was blown up for holding onto the ball on the ground.

And the England fly-half gave the Premiership champions a 9-3 lead when he slotted another three-pointer off the kicking tee in the 25th minute, after Munster’s back-line strayed offside on defence.

The Irish province held a slight edge during the next 15 minutes and were level at 9-9 just before half-time thanks to two further penalties. First, Bleyendaal succeeded with a shot at goal on the half-hour mark before Conor Murray landed a long-range effort from just inside Munster’s half.

Farrell would have the last laugh of the half, however, nailing another penalty attempt to put his side 12-9 up at the break.

The home side made a terrific start to the second half and three minutes after the restart Michael Rhodes slipped through a tackle from John Ryan to cross for the opening try, after the ball was taken through 22 phases in the build-up.

Farrell added the extras and shortly afterwards Munster’s pack infringed at a scrum and the Sarries number 10 slotted his fifth penalty to give his side a comfortable 22-9 lead.

The home side’s dominance continued as the half progressed and in the 52nd minute another successful Farrell penalty meant Sarries were in total control of proceedings.

With time running out, Munster needed to score a converted try to keep their hopes alive and that came against the run of play on the hour-mark. There was an element of luck to the score as Saracens’ forwards failed to control the ball at a scrum on their five-metre line and Murray scooped up the loose ball which was shifted wide to Darren Sweetnam, who had an easy run-in over the whitewash.

JJ Hanrahan succeeded with the conversion which meant Munster were back in the match but they needed to score another try to put real pressure on their opponents.

But Sarries had other ideas and although Farrell was off target with a shot at goal in the 66th minute, they finished stronger and sealed the win with a Billy Vunipola try from close quarters in the 74th minute, after Liam Williams and Nick Tompkins set him up with superb runs in the build-up.

Despite having the game in the bag, Sarries did not relent and although they failed to score further points, they finished the game with 14 men after Vincent Koch was yellow carded for upending Tadhg Beirne illegally at a ruck in the game’s closing stages.

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Rhodes, B Vunipola
Cons: Farrell 2
Pens: Farrell 6
Yellow Card: Koch

For Munster:
Try: Sweetnam
Con: Hanrahan
Pens: Bleyendaal 2, Murray

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Mike Rhodes, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Alex Lewington

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jack O’Donoghue, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Dan Goggin

Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)