Crowley’s ‘Top-Class’ Drop Goal Proves Decisive For Magical Munster

Player-of-the-match Jack Crowley steered Munster to an enthralling 25-24 Investec Champions Cup knockout win over La Rochelle, on what was a red letter day for the province on the west coast of France.

These teams’ first ever meeting did not disappoint, Munster trailing twice before scoring 15 points during the third quarter and then holding firm thanks to Crowley’s superbly-struck 68th-minute drop goal.

La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara, himself such a pivotal part of Munster’s glorious history with this competition, was magnanimous in defeat and praised Crowley for ‘a brilliant kick, a top-class one’.

The eagerly-awaited round of 16 clash was finely balanced at half-time, Ihaia West’s late penalty sending O’Gara’s side in with a 10-7 lead after Levani Botia and the excellent Craig Casey had traded tries.

Those seven-pointers had come after yellow cards – Andrew Smith and West were both sin-binned – and it was Munster who seized the initiative on the restart, a Crowley penalty preceding Gavin Coombes’ smartly-finished charge-down try.

Cheered on by an estimated 2,000 Munster fans at Stade Marcel Deflandre, Ian Costello’s men opened up a 25-10 advantage after Dillyn Leyds’ sin-binning was swiftly punished by an unconverted Smith effort.

Crowley’s drop goal came after the double whammy of an Alex Kendellen yellow and a penalty try, and although Hoani Bosmorin crossed in the 76th minute, Munster held their nerve to book a quarter-final trip to Bordeaux-Bègles next Saturday (kick-off 4pm local time/3pm Irish time).

Roared on by their vocal home support, La Rochelle missed out on an explosive start when Teddy Thomas’ foot in touch – spotted by TMO Matteo Liperini – denied Tawera Kerr-Barlow a first-minute try. Munster took heed of the warning.

John Hodnett’s turnover penalty, followed by a clever kick to touch from Casey, brought play inside the hosts’ 22 for the first time, but Munster’s encouraging opening was subsequently dented by Smith’s sin-binning.

The on-loan winger infringed at a ruck following a La Rochelle linebreak, and referee Andrea Piardi reached for his yellow card. Despite Munster’s strong maul defence, UJ Seuteni did well to send Botia over in the 10th minute.

After West’s close-range conversion for a 7-0 lead, Munster built some good phases with Josh Wycherley, an injury replacement for Jeremy Loughman, getting on the ball. They were edging the territory battle until Jack Nowell was invited to cut in twice off his wing.

Will Skelton’s loose offload was dived on by Hodnett, ten metres out from the Munster try-line. Talismanic captain Tadhg Beirne also typified his side’s desire in defence, flooring Kerr-Barlow with a bruising tackle and then forcing a knock-on from Seuteni.

Smith had barely returned to the pitch when West saw yellow for a high tackle on Sean O’Brien. It was Thaakir Abrahams who took full advantage with 24 minutes gone.

The South African full-back brilliantly stepped through a gap when countering from deep, and he fed the supporting Casey to gleefully finish off from the edge of La Rochelle’s 22.

It showed Munster had the pace to cause some serious damage, and with Crowley converting from close in, the splashes of red around the stadium were growing more vibrant by the minute. Diarmuid Barron’s kick chase and penalty win at the breakdown drew more cheers.

14-man La Rochelle managed to disrupt a close-range maul opportunity for Munster, though, and despite O’Brien getting free to put Peter O’Mahony within a few metres of the whitewash, Thomas Lavault then drew a knock-on from Jean Kleyn.

A Calvin Nash break saw Munster come hunting again, only for some impressive defending from the hosts to keep them out of scoring range. Back to their full complement and now on the front foot, La Rochelle regained the lead thanks to West’s late three-pointer.

Crowley made it 10-all soon after the restart, rewarding Nash’s swiftness at the breakdown. The Ireland winger increased his influence with a crucial try-saving tackle to prevent Oscar Jégou from reaching over in the corner.

The Munstermen had to soak up further pressure, Thomas taking the wrong option to cut back inside before being brought down by Tom Farrell and Beirne. Reda Wardi had a cut off the next ruck but was held up over the line.

Having fluffed their lines in attack, La Rochelle were stung badly by the concession of seven points a couple of minutes later. West’s attempted clearance kick was blocked by Coombes who chased down the bouncing ball, controlled it and touched it down ahead of Thomas.

It was a rousing try from the abrasive number 8, the momentum from which led to another Munster score on the 50-minute mark. Their link-up play was crisp down the left wing, and Leyds was guilty of a deliberate knock-on that landed him in the sin bin.

Coombes scrambled up close after La Rochelle had infringed when defending the resulting lineout, and Casey’s flicked pass to the left put Smith over unopposed to make it 22-10. Crowley’s touchline conversion missed on the far side.

Play swung between both halves when Munster could not capitalise on a Farrell break, and then a thumping clearance from West had Crowley conceding a lineout. Casey responded in terrific fashion, knocking the ball loose from Quentin Lespiaucq’s grasp.

Tom Ahern was part of an impactful Munster bench, winning a lineout and throwing himself into tackles. Nonetheless, La Rochelle’s power up front gained traction, earning back-to-back penalties before a third one – Kendellen was picked out for collapsing a maul – ate into that deficit.

Munster could have been derailed by that 65th-minute yellow card and penalty try, but kept their composure amid the growing noise from the home fans. None more so than Crowley who dropped a tremendous goal from just inside La Rochelle’s 10-metre line.

Smith and Beirne displayed their jackaling ability to win some important penalties, yet La Rochelle eventually profited from their numerical advantage. Bosmorin dotted down from Antoine Hastoy’s cross-field kick, and the latter added a well-struck conversion.

That made it a one-point game with just under three minutes remaining, the tension bubbling up as Beirne and Grégory Alldritt both claimed turnovers, and the La Rochelle skipper sent his side back into Munster’s half.

There was yet more drama as Fineen Wycherley’s tackle on Jégou was reviewed by the match officials, the decision going the visitors’ way this time, and a final penalty allowed Crowley to kick the ball dead and confirm a return trip to France next week.