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Munster head coach Johann van Graan felt back-to-back Heineken Champions Cup wins were a timely tonic after “a real mental battle the last few weeks” due to the squad’s Covid-19 crisis.
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Young fly-half Ben Healy kicked four penalties on his first European start as Munster held off Castres Olympique in a turgid 19-13 win at Thomond Park.
Number eights Jack O’Donoghue and Kevin Kornath traded tries, the latter earning Castres a losing bonus point with four minutes remaining.
It has been a whirlwind spell for Van Graan, whose departure to Bath at the end of the season was confirmed this week. An ill-fated United Rugby Championship trip to South Africa saw Munster begin their European campaign with 34 players in quarantine, yet they still managed to beat Wasps in the opening round last week.
“We are very happy with the win, happy to have the nine points, although it is not the performance that we wanted,” admitted the South African.
“This was not easy on the eye, it was an ugly win. But it was the first game for a lot of guys for seven weeks. Yes, we can certainly perform better but it has been a real mental battle the last few weeks.
“We hope to get everyone out of isolation in the next two days, and then we can be together as a squad for first time since the Ospreys week back in October.
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“The thing I am glad about is that we have two wins out of two. When we spoke a few weeks ago, we certainly would have taken that.”
Meanwhile, Springbok star Damian de Allende’s ability to make metres earned him the Heineken star-of-the-match award. However, he missed out on a try to crown his performance.
“I thought when we held on to the ball, we did very well and we got metres. But I think we tried to look for the offload too much. It was just that final pass,” he acknowledged, reflecting on why the hosts finished with just one try.
“It was frustrating on the field where we felt we should have scored but we didn’t. Still happy to get the win but we left a bit out there.”
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On the TMO decision which denied him a try before half-time – he was adjudged not to be in control of the ball – he said: “Honestly I felt it was a try. If it wasn’t, I would say it wasn’t.
“It wasn’t given but at least Jack’s was, which was nice. It was a good finish from him. I’m just glad we got the win.”
