Late Hero Hanrahan Kicks Munster Through To All-Irish Semi-Final

Benetton Rugby’s best ever season ended in a gut-wrenching 15-13 defeat at Thomond Park as JJ Hanrahan’s fantastic late penalty from halfway kept Munster’s GUINNESS PRO14 title hopes alive.

The first Italian club to ever reach the PRO14’s knockout stages, Benetton were the better team and scored the game’s only try through Fijian winger Iliesa Ratuva on the stroke of half-time. Tommaso Allan’s terrific touchline conversion gave them a 10-3 buffer, with Tyler Bleyendaal and Allan having exchanged earlier penalties.

Sloppy Munster were on the cusp of a shock quarter-final exit when Allan replied to Bleyendaal’s second penalty. However, the latter’s replacement, Hanrahan, proved to be the hosts’ saviour as he knocked over a trio of penalties, including the decisive 76th-minute strike after Dewaldt Duvenage’s kicking away of the ball had moved the penalty into kickable range.

There was still further drama as Benetton surged downfield, twice setting up drop goal attempts at the death which were sent wide by replacement Antonio Rizzi and Jayden Hayward. Munster’s collective relief was obvious as they advanced to their fourth PRO14 semi-final five years – another all-Irish clash with old rivals Leinster at the RDS on Saturday, May 18.

Head coach Johann van Graan said afterwards: “It’s knockout rugby, the only thing that matters is we won. Credit to the lads for keeping them out at the end there and credit to JJ for getting that kick. There is real fight and belief in this team, and credit to the players that came on and helped us through that last 10 minutes.

“Skill execution, we got ourselves down there (in the Benetton 22) five or six times inside the first 25 minutes and didn’t put points on the board. We’ll have to have a real look at ourselves. We’ll look at ourselves as a group, and why we didn’t perform in terms of our execution.

“We’ve got Leinster in two weeks’ time and we know they are a fantastic side. We got there last season as well (playing a semi-final at the RDS) and they’ve a Champions Cup final coming up next week. Good luck to them in that, but we’ll take our time and prepare well.”

Darren Sweetnam started in place of Keith Earls who failed a late fitness start, but the hosts were boosted by Conor Murray’s inclusion at scrum half. Bidding to become the first Italian side to win at Thomond Park, Benetton absorbed the early pressure, Munster twice gaining ground with their maul but Toa Halafihi and Braam Steyn smothered Murray a few metres out.

Two more try-scoring chances went a-begging as Sweetnam was stopped short from a wide move, before Tadhg Beirne knocked on in a big defensive win for the Italians. Bleyendaal opened the scoring with a long range 22nd-minute penalty after Murray was taken out at a ruck. However, no clear release saw Munster captain Peter O’Mahony quickly cough up three points to Allan.

High tackle counts from the Treviso forwards continued to frustrate Munster, whose attack was too predictable at times. Marco Riccioni’s scrum penalty and Allan’s clever touchfinder clawed back territory late on, Hayward’s quickly-taken lineout and break paving the way for Benetton to go wide and man-of-the-match Ratuva’s diving one-handed finish in the right corner stunned the mostly-red attendance of 10,042.

Following Bleyendaal’s second penalty just three minutes after the restart, Benetton showed their threat again with a slick Tito Tebaldi-inspired attack and had Steyn held onto a pass, the try was on. A similar knock-on from replacement Hame Faiva, in front of the Munster posts, ruined Ratuva’s excellent midfield break past four defenders.

Successive penalties, with CJ Stander and Hanrahan the guilty parties, led to Allan’s 59th-minute penalty, with Munster left to rue a lineout steal by Federico Ruzza. Momentum was finally behind the hosts, though, as Hanrahan strung together two penalty goals for a 13-12 scoreline, rewarding the impact of the province’s bench.

It was Munster’s play-off experience which ultimately got them out of jail. Dogged defending saw Ratuva tackled short, the visitors then falling foul of referee Nigel Owens’ whistle as John Ryan and Stander won crucial penalties. Kerry native Hanrahan stepped up to nervelessly nail his 50-metre kick, and Munster desperately hung on despite the Italians’ strong carrying in the final minutes.

Giving his reaction after the quarter-final, Munster skipper O’Mahony commented: “It was a difficult game. Benetton have been one of the in-form teams in the PRO14 this year. It’s not the first time they’ve come to Ireland and put in a serious performance, they’ve drawn twice against Leinster and Ulster.

“You see with the Italian national side, how much they’re improving and they’ve a chunk of players from that team. We didn’t expect anything other than an incredible Test match today and they certainly didn’t disappoint. They took their chances incredibly well and have some seriously dangerous players, particularly on breaking ball.

“A couple of times we were attacking and all of a sudden we were back on our try-line. Their two wingers and their number eight are tough men to tackle. We can certainly make huge improvements, but we were under huge pressure. Poor skill execution, and poor decision-making at times when we offloaded.

“We put ourselves in some great positions, particularly in the first half, and we need to learn to be a little more patient at times and maybe play a phase or two. But I thought Benetton defended very well, they scrambled well. They’re a hungry side and you could see it the way they got back and defended the line.”