Two-Try Earls Shoots Munster Through To Third Straight European Semi-Final

Munster showed their European smarts once again as Keith Earls’ 70th-minute try – his second of the game – drove the province past hosts Edinburgh and into a record 14th Heineken Champions Cup semi-final from 18 attempts.

A key penalty reversal against Edinburgh gave Munster the platform to build for the quarter-final’s decisive score, Tyler Bleyendaal and the bench having a crucial impact as quick ball was produced and nice hands from Conor Murray, Rory Scannell and Chris Farrell sent man-of-the-match Earls diving over in the right corner to retake the lead.

Bleyendaal, who replaced Joey Carbery whose hamstring got the better of him, landed a peach of a conversion from the right touchline to open up a four-point gap, giving his team-mates an additional boost as their steely defence smothered Edinburgh close to the halfway line.

It sets up Munster’s third semi-final appearance in as many years and a mouth-watering rematch with Saracens at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Easter Saturday (April 20) (kick-off 3pm). The sides met at the semi-final stage in 2017 with Sarries claiming a 26-10 victory at the Aviva Stadium on the way to retaining the title.

The travelling support in the 36,358 Murrayfield attendance sung their hearts out, having endured a tense and attritional first half which ended 10-7 in Edinburgh’s favour. It was a very good outcome for Munster considering they lost both Jack O’Donoghue and Carbery to injury and, collectively, were not playing anywhere near their best.

The fired-up Scots, who lost a tightly-contested GUINNESS PRO14 play-off 20-16 at Munster last season, had dominated possession and territory, cancelling out Earls’ opportunist 18th-minute try from a quick tap with a Chris Dean touchdown and five points from Jaco van der Walt’s reliable right boot.

Additionally, Munster had been forced into a late pre-match change with Andrew Conway moving to full-back to cover the absence of an ill Mike Haley, with Darren Sweetnam brought in on the left wing. A fast-paced start saw hookers Niall Scannell and Stuart McInally quickly involved, the former stealing possession out the back of a ruck and the latter responding with a well-won breakdown penalty.

Edinburgh emerged pointless after turning down two early kicks at goal from out wide, Bill Mata and Hamish Watson both knocked back in tackles before CJ Stander dug in to win a relieving penalty. Just a few minutes later, O’Donoghue rescued the province with a big penalty under their posts, allowing them to draw breath after losing Tadhg Beirne to the sin-bin for cynically slowing Edinburgh ball.

14-man Munster managed to take the lead soon after, Earls’ hard chase of a Murray box-kick resulting in Edinburgh leaking a five-metre scrum. Farrell stepped in to play openside flanker at the set piece, Murray drawing a deliberate knock-on from his opposite number Henry Pyrgos before the ever-alert Earls took the penalty quickly and sniped over.

Carbery nudged the conversion over for good measure, but just when Munster were building a platform as John Ryan attacked into the 22, his offload to Murray was intercepted by Mata. McInally’s breakdown work had his team-mates back hunting for a try, which arrived while O’Donoghue was injured. Darcy Graham bounced up out of a tackle to get them within range before Pyrgos released centre Dean to score past Murray, to the left of the posts.

Munster felt aggrieved with Watson’s forward pass in the build-up and Grant Gilchrist going straight in off his feet at a ruck, but the score stood and van der Walt swiftly kicked the Scots level. The Edinburgh fans were frustrated with Conway only coughing up a penalty for taking out Graham in the air, their forwards responding with a scrum penalty and a scrappy lineout which McInally did well to recover.

As half-time approached, Jean Kleyn overplayed in his own 22 as he lost turnover ball with a pass that was picked off by Damien Hoyland. A soft resulting penalty, as Pyrgos was interfered with at the back of a ruck, allowed van der Walt to give Richard Cockerill’s men a three-point buffer – jet-heeled full-back Graham threatened to extend that lead with a dangerous late break from deep.

Bleyendaal appears to be finding form at just the right time of the season and the New Zealander nailed a central 46th-minute penalty, punishing Mata for a high tackle. The Munster pack began the second period in much better fettle, Beirne’s charge-down followed by a scrum penalty and some strong carries off a Peter O’Mahony-won lineout on the edge of the Edinburgh 22.

Scotland openside Watson’s effectiveness at the breakdown led to van der Walt edging the hosts back in front at 13-10, with kick receiver Conway lacking support after he was tackled. Munster turned down a difficult penalty kick out wide, instead attacking off a close-in lineout before Sweetnam, who stepped in off his wing, and Stander were both stopped just short of the try-line.

The Edinburgh pack erupted in celebration after winning a penalty from the subsequent five-metre scrum, another decision at the breakdown launching them downfield where Earls and Conway had to react sharply to deny Graham and Hoyland on either wing. It was Munster’s ability to soak up pressure, make important tackles and keep Edinburgh to just one try which proved so vital in the end.

Just when Edinburgh were cranking up for another possible score, referee Pascal Gauzere reversed a penalty as Pierre Schoeman was guilty of shouldering Beirne off the ball. Bleyendaal kicked Munster back into the Scots’ 22 and then gathered an overthrown lineout. Clever running from Murray caught the Edinburgh defence flatfooted as he combined with Scannell and Farrell to give Earls the opportunity to evade Duhan van der Merwe and produce a smart finish past the diving Graham in the corner.

Bleyendaal’s brilliant conversion split the posts and was a real dagger into Edinburgh hearts. Time was not on their side with less than 10 minutes remaining and Murray’s box kicks pushed them back into their own half, the visitors following up with some abrasive and disciplined defensive phases under the spring sunshine in the Scottish capital.

Replacements Arno Botha and Billy Holland stood out with some big involvements, the South African ripping possession away from Mata and then popping up in the final seconds to force a knock-on and bring this titanic tussle to an end. Holland, meanwhile, had an influential cameo while Kleyn was off in the first half and then pressurised Edinburgh into a knock-on at a late lineout.

Reflecting on the province’s performance and the players who stepped up, head coach Johann van Graan said: “We got on the bus with the news that Mike is out, the way we train and the way we do things…nothing phases us, we just adapt. I thought we handled that well. The yellow card, losing Jack and Joey in the first-half, it’s a lot earlier than normal but we regrouped at half-time and changed one or two things tactically.

“The belief was there, congratulations to the players for pulling it through. We made a decision to go with Tyler (on the bench) this weekend and once you get your opportunity you’ve got to use it. Especially that last conversion from the touchline, that’s massive in the context of our season.

“Obviously Joey was very disappointed to come off. He felt a bit of stiffness (in his hamstring) after about 25 minutes and said he’s going to play on. We don’t foresee it being serious, but it’s not for me to speculate at this stage. Ten minutes later he said he couldn’t continue so I pulled him.

“Your experienced players, your world class players need to step up on the big days and I thought Keith was excellent today – as was Conor, Pete and CJ. I thought Chris Farrell had an excellent game, someone like Niall Scannell that doesn’t get a lot of praise for the set piece, that was a real battle. It was a real gritty performance from our side until the last play.”

The South African added: “The growth of our squad, not only physically but also mentally. I thought if you just look at the last 20 minutes we were fit enough to come through it, our front rows made a massive impact. If you just look at the Champions Cup, we drew with Exeter away, we lost by one point to Castres, beat Gloucester and then came through this. I believe home and away, we’re definitely growing.”