Following Munster’s 47-29 defeat to Bordeaux-Bègles in the Champions Cup quarter-finals, here is how we scored Ian Costello’s men from the Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Munster player ratings v Bordeaux Bègles
15 Thaakir Abrahams: There’s something about South African backs in scrum caps, isn’t there. Just looked very threatening whenever he touched the ball, and matched that with some sturdy work under the high ball. 7
14 Calvin Nash: Looked to make things happen whenever he touched the ball, but couldn’t quite get the breakaway he deserved. 5
13 Tom Farrell: Grew into the game nicely as it went on and consistently made himself available for work through midfield. Felt his growth coincided with Munster’s late fightback too. 6
12 Alex Nankivell: Like Farrell, he grew into the game and ended up making a decent impact. After recovering from some early errors, he nabbed himself a nice try and threw a delicious pass out to Andrew Smith in the build-up to the winger’s first score too, while also making some barnstorming late carries to get Munster firing in that final quarter. 6
11 Andrew Smith: A decent shift from the winger, especially as he faced the unenviable task of taking on Damian Penaud. Carried well when called upon and posted some decent defensive efforts too. His two tries in the second-half were special as well. 6
10 Jack Crowley: For all his quality last weekend, this just wasn’t his day as he blew incredibly hot and cold. To his credit, he fronted up well in defence with some nice tackles (12/18) and when he got the attack going, it looked very slick; but he marred that with a few sloppy errors which were quickly punished by a rampant Bordeaux. Probably serves as a metaphor for his side in all honesty. 5
9 Craig Casey: Not a performance he’ll look back at fondly. Just couldn’t quite generate the same sort of speed into Munster’s attack that we’ve come to expect from him, and he didn’t have his best day from the boot either. This was brought under the spotlight following the introduction of Conor Murray too, who made Munster look a lot slicker. 4
Back-row
8 Gavin Coombes: Consistently made big carries to drag Munster over the gainline, which is something we’ve come to expect from him of late. It seemed whenever Munster needed to get going, they turned to Coombes. 7
7 John Hodnett: A brave defensive effort from the flanker, who never seemed to tire in that respect. 6
6 Peter O’Mahony: A very quiet outing from the iconic forward, unfortunately. He just wasn’t able to properly get a foothold in the contest and therefore make his mark. 4
Tight five
5 Tadhg Beirne: Industrious as ever, albeit in vain. Carried well whenever called upon and matched that with some stern defensive efforts. Never really seems to have a bad game. 7
4 Jean Kleyn: Busy if uninspiring from the Springbok lock. Did the ugly stuff when needed. 5
3 Oli Jager: Looked very solid in the scrum for the most part, which will please Paul O’Connell with Ireland potentially needing a new tighthead this summer. 6
2 Diarmuid Barron: Contributed to the efforts in the scrum, but came off early into the day through injury. 5
1 Josh Wycherley: Scrummaged well for the most part, considering he had 148kg behemoth Ben Tameifuna against him. Should have got some more reward for it. 6
Replacements: While they were deployed at a tough time in the game, the Munster bench failed to make much of an impact on proceedings and actually cost them further in the end as Tom Ahern and Alex Kendellen were sent to the sin-bin. Dropping down to 14 once, let alone twice, is always going to make a game with Bordeaux hard, and it proved exactly that today. Otherwise, the bench were pretty decent, though in all honesty, especially Murray in his final Champions Cup outing for the men in red, but those two yellow cards were costly. 4
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/munster-player-ratings-v-bordeaux-hot-and-cold-jack-crowley-serves-as-a-metaphor-despite-spirited-fightback
