Paris Heartbreak For Munster Against Vakatawa-Inspired Racing

Munster produced a Trojan effort but fell marginally short against a Racing 92 side who scored three tries in the final nine minutes to give this tightly-contested Heineken Champions Cup battle a lopsided final scoreline.

JJ Hanrahan, who recovered from a hamstring to start at out-half, kicked four penalties and converted Andrew Conway’s brilliant intercept try just before the break as Johann van Graan’s men led 16-11 at half-time.

The reliable right boot of Hanrahan had kept the scoreboard ticking over and Munster led 22-20 before that trio of late scores from Teddy Thomas, man-of-the-match Virimi Vakatawa and Juan Imhoff secured top spot in Pool 4 for fast-finishing Racing.

Lying third in the table on 11 points, Munster still have a very slim chance of making the quarter-finals as one of the best runners-up. They need maximum points at home to the Ospreys next Sunday and favourable results from Saracens v Racing and a number of other games.

They showed their intent from the off at a pulsating La Defense Arena with some excellent carries taking the province deep into the Racing half. The table toppers were eventually pinged for offside and Hanrahan slotted over the third-minute penalty for a 3-0 lead.

It was doubled in the 11th minute following a very well-struck long range penalty from the Kerry native, which rewarded a Munster scrum that was spearheaded by hooker Niall Scannell on the occasion of his 100th provincial cap.

Van Graan’s charges kept up the pressure and another excellent attack was rewarded with a third Hanrahan penalty, 17 minutes in. A powerful carry from lively prop Dave Kilcoyne led to a Racing breakdown infringement and the number 10 collected the three points.

Poor discipline from Munster gave the hosts their first chance just moments later, with Teddy Iribaren blocked as he looked to close down Rory Scannell. The scrum half stepped up to land the kick and cut the gap to 9-3.

Racing then hit their stride with their Scottish star Finn Russell pulling the strings from out-half, while the powerfully-built Vakatawa, who had 15 carries for 107 metres and beat 11 defenders, was a huge threat in midfield.

An outrageous Iribaren pass set up in-form winger Thomas for the first try in the right corner in the 28th minute. The try was awarded after a TMO review with Vakatawa deemed not to have knocked on during the build-up in the Munster 22.

Iribaren was unable to add the conversion, but when Munster captain Peter O’Mahony was harshly penalised moments later, the Racing half-back fired home his second penalty from halfway to give Racing the lead for the first time – 11-9.

An intentional Vakatawa knock-on gave Hanrahan his fourth shot at goal, which drifted just to the left of the target, but Conway’s stunning score – his 42nd try for the province which puts him third overall in the Munster record books – was just what the visitors needed as the interval loomed.

The Dublin-born speedster latched onto Henry Chavancy’s pass when it looked certain that Racing would score. It was very much a 14-point swing at that stage, Hanrahan’s conversion sending the men in red off with a five-point buffer.

A Munster offside cheaply gave back three points with Iribaren booting the second half’s opening points. However, a break by the impressive Keith Earls got the province back on the front foot and he offloaded to Jack O’Donoghue to keep the attack going.

Conor Murray was taken out by Russell for a penalty, another superbly-struck kick from Hanrahan steadying Munster at 19-14. Iribaren increased his influence with two more penalty goals, punishing a high tackle and a deliberate knock-on with the home side edging back in front.

Munster turned to one of their wingers again, a well-weighted Conway chip down the line regaining the momentum with Iribaren carrying the ball into touch just five metres out from the Racing try-line.

Crucially though, Chris Farrell was held up by Vakatawa after a clever lineout move, and while Racing were caught offside from the resulting scrum, Jean Kleyn was held up just inches short of the whitewash. That elusive second try could have made all the difference but it remained out of Munster’s reach.

They decided to settle for another three-pointer from Hanrahan, retaking the lead with the former Ireland Under-20 starlet pushing his own tally up to 17 points. As good as his goal-kicking was, Munster’s failure to convert that pressure on the hour mark into a try really cost them in the end.

The decisive moment for Racing arrived in the 71st minute when Thomas finished excellently via a Russell cross-field kick. TMO Rowan Kitt adjudged that the ball had been grounded before the end-line, but frustratingly for Munster, there were no angles to show whether or not the winger was offside from the kick.

Replacement Maxime Machenaud was unable to convert, but the French powerhouses contained Munster’s attempts to respond and then put a flattering gloss on their giant scoreboard with a try-scoring bonus point to boot.

As tiredness crept in and Munster struggled to slow down the hosts’ pace of attack, Racing suddenly went from 25-22 to 39-22 thanks to late run-ins from Vakatawa, who cut in between Conway and Mike Haley, and Imhoff, the beneficiary of Ben Volavola’s inviting pass.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Munster head coach van Graan, who handed Champions Cup debuts to Shane Daly and Craig Casey off the bench, said: “It really hurts. It’s out of our hands now. Racing go to Saracens (next weekend) and have to win and we have to beat the Ospreys to give ourselves a chance of qualifying.

“It’s a tough one to take. We were over their try-line on 60 twice, but we only got three points and they got the seven-pointers. There was a magic moment from Thomas on 71 minutes which meant we fell behind and there were two magic tries there at the end.

“The scoreline is not reflective, but that’s rugby and you’ve got to hand it to Racing. They finished off the game really well, but I’m proud of our guys. They literally gave it all they’ve got and the last few minutes took it away from us.”