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Munster player ratings: Munster lost 26 – 12 to rivals Leinster in front of a league record 80,000-plus fans at the iconic Croke Park stadium in Dublin.
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Falling into an early 21 – 0 deficit courtesy of a lightning-quick start from Leinster, Munster showed their gumption to work their back into the contest but could never close the gap enough to truly challenge their hosts.
Concerningly for head coach Graham Rowntree and his team, the men in red saw further additions to their already lengthy injury list ahead of their two-match tour of South Africa.
Here is how the Munster players fared at Croke Park.
1. Jeremy Loughman – 8
Led the defensive line for Munster with some big hits, particularly one effort on RG Snyman in the first few minutes. Across the board, it’s fair to say that Loughman was the better of the two Irish international looseheads on the day whilst being far and away the best forward for his side.
2. Niall Scannell – 4
Struggled mightily against the Leinster line-out with the men in blue clearly reading the Munster’s line-out (cough, cough, RG Snyman). Unfortunately, these woes cost Munster massively and killed several promising attacking opportunities.
3. Stephen Archer – 6
Harassed Andrew Porter at scrum time in a similar manner to how the All Blacks went after the Leinster loosehead in the World Cup quarterfinal. Around the pitch, Archer hit a ton of rucks but lacked dynamism in the carry, which his side desperately missed with Oli Jager absent.
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4. Jean Kleyn – 3
In a vision of what Munster chose and what they could’ve had, Kleyn and Snyman went head-to-head today. Unfortunately for Munster, their World Cup-winning Springbok was anonymous during 49 minutes on the pitch, whilst Snyman pulled off a few slick offloads and, of course, scored the try on the stroke of half-time.
5. Tadhg Beirne – 6
Clearly infuriated with the referee early in the first half, the Munster captain appeared to feel as though none of the 50/50 calls went his way. On a personal note, he had the trademark big-time turnovers, but their disastrous showing in the line-out will be a real source of frustration for Beirne and Co.
6. Jack O’Donoghue – 4
One of O’Donoghue’s quieter showings for his side as he was clinically marshalled out of the contest by the Leinster backrow. When he did carry he couldn’t make any in-roads into the defensive line and rarely got his hands free.
7. John Hodnett – 5
A highly industrious showing from the backrow as he topped the tackles chart with 18 but lacked his usual venom in the carry, which had a lot to do with Leinster’s ferocity in the tackle.
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8. Gavin Coombes – 7.5
Enjoyed a confrontational afternoon with Caelen Doris and more than held his own with the RTE commentators making note of his barge over the Leinster skipper. He displayed his soft skills with a brilliant inside ball to Sean O’Brien for Munster’s opening try and again with a deft kick forward for Munster’s second score. Overall, it was another big-time work rate showing from Coombes, and it begs the question, what more does he need to do for an Irish call-up?
9. Craig Casey – 4
He had to contend with a minefield of a breakdown, and this showed with his lack of pace with clearing the ball. This, combined with him seemingly pulling the trigger too when his pack were making yards in close, made it straightforward for the Leinster defence to snuff out attacks.
10. Jack Crowley – 4.5
Far from the levels he has shown over the past eighteen months, Crowley struggled in the face of Leinster’s rush defence. This had the knock-on effect of seeing him drop deeper and deeper into the pocket, with Leinster just picking off the Munster ball carriers. Missing two kicks from the tee in the first half was disappointing in a match where his team needed every point they could get.
11. Sean O’Brien – 6.5
He underwent a mixed bag of an outing as he was caught narrow for two of Leinster’s first-half tries, which is understandable given he spent the last few weeks playing in the centre for the Emerging Ireland side. On the other side of the ball, the 26-year-old had a strong showing, with his first-half try coming from a superb line. Ending his day in the 61st minute with 12 carries for 87 meters is a solid return, but in a clash of this magnitude, his lack of out-and-out pace was noticeable as he struggled to get free in several promising positions.
12. Alex Nankivell – 4
Another of Munster’s ‘big players’ who hustled and bustled but didn’t really have many positive impacts. Coming off as firmly second best in his one-on-one with the opposite number, Jamie Osborne, the Kiwi centre will want to forget this one in a hurry.
13. Tom Farrell – 7.5
Certainly the pick of the Munster backline, Farrell was superb both in attack and defensively. Reading the Leinster attack, Farrell had a few perfect man and ball tackles, which stunted Leinster’s ability to get wide. In attack, he looked the most likely to spark something for his team with his big break in the 55th minute, showing his vision and pace.
14. Calvin Nash – 5
Mirroring his fellow winger in being caught narrow on a few occasions, Nash was found wanting on a few occasions but, to his credit, generally scrambled well. On the flip side, he got on the ball on 10 occasions for 47 meters, with a lot of those meters being run sideways in a bid to get around the blue wall.
15. Mike Haley – 6
He reiterated his importance to the side with an assured performance mopping up the Leinster kicks and had a few good returns with the ball in hand. In general play, he was solid with his chase back ahead of James Lowe late in the second half, denying Leinster a certain try before he pounced for one of his own following Coombes’ kick ahead.
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16. Diarmuid Barron – 3
Falling foul to the same line-out issues as his predecessor, the 26-year-old struggled to find his marks with the Leinster jumpers getting up quickly. In general, in the play, he had little tangible impact other than hitting rucks.
17. Kieran Ryan – N/A
There is not enough time on the pitch to rate accurately.
18. John Ryan – 5
Ended his day with a nasty looking shoulder injury, prior to that he played his part in a strong Munster scrummaging performance and had a few good rumbles with ball in hand.
19. Thomas Ahern – 3
Very little impact, which is unsurprising given he has just returned from a long injury lay-off.
20. Ruadhan Quinn – 5
Worked hard to get into the contest with 6 carries and will certainly grow from the experience. Unfortunately, when he entered proceedings, the action had cooled somewhat, with the two sides stuck in a battle of wills between the two twenty-twos.
21. Conor Murray – 4
He had a nice little half-break that got his team going forward, but unfortunately, he didn’t have the necessary support to capitalise on it. Outside of this, he had the same issues as Casey at the breakdown and was forced to shovel slow ball only for Leinster to batter the Munster carriers backwards.
22. Tony Butler – N/A
Not enough time to rate accurately.
23. Shay McCarthy – 4
Added some pace to the final twenty minutes but rarely had enough space to make it count, still there were a few flashes of his potential once again.
