United Rugby Championship: Heartbroken Munster still have a chance of silverware

Dylan Coetzee

Former Ireland international Benard Jackman believes Munster can focus on the United Rugby Championship title after their heartbreaking loss to Toulouse last weekend.

Munster was knocked out of the Champions Cup at the quarter-final stage in a tight game that was level after 100 minutes of rugby, taking the game to a place-kicking competition where the French side claimed the victory.

Heartbreak

Jackman labelled the loss as “cruel” and “rare” but also acknowledged the spectacle on show between Europe’s elite.

“I think it’s very cruel on Munster who contributed a huge amount to what was a fantastic game in terms of drama,” said Jackman on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

“Unfortunately, with the way the season has got compacted, (the game) needed to finish on the day with the semi-final coming up this weekend.

“But (the place kicking competition defeat) was absolutely cruel and so rare. The last one I remember was Leicester-Cardiff, it must be 10-12 years ago, so it doesn’t happen very often.”

Despite the unbearable loss, Jackman believes there are positives for Munster, and that the team can push for the URC title to close out coach Johann van Graan’s tenure at the club.

“Unfortunately for Munster, they miss out. But they’ve made massive progress the last couple of months and I think there’s a reconnection,” he said.

“The Munster fans were brilliant, they can be incredibly proud of their team and now the challenge for Munster is they’ve a week off to get back up now to the level they were at on Saturday and the previous couple of weeks against Ulster and Exeter. They can go and try to win silverware in the URC because this is the end of the Van Graan era; there’s a lot of players who’ve been around Munster for a long time and I think their legacy will be built on winning silverware.

“They’re certainly good enough to win silverware and they were very, very close to being in a Champions Cup semi-final.”

Toulouse will face Leinster in the semi-finals and Jackman believes his former team have the advantage with the game being played in Dublin.

“On form, Toulouse beat Ulster by a point over two games, they beat Munster on penalties, (and) you’d have to say Leinster are a 10-12 point better team than Munster or Ulster,” he added.

“So you’d expect Leinster to be able to go there. I think also the fatigue factor. That (Munster) game will take a huge amount out of Toulouse. They’ve got to go home and come back to Dublin.

“Leinster had that chance to freshen up their squad, leaving players at home when the youngsters went to South Africa and they looked really clinical going away from home.

“I think Leinster are a better side than Toulouse. Particularly with the game being in Dublin, it is a big advantage for Leinster.”

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