Following the Bulls’ clutch 16-13 victory over Munster at Thomond Park, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship clash.
Top line
A true arm-wrestle as the Bulls created history, becoming the first South African team to knock over Munster at Thomond Park in the United Rugby Championship.
Jake White’s charges emerged victorious courtesy of a contentious Marcell Coetzee try as well as two Johan Goosen penalties and a clutch kick from Keagan Johannes.
Jack Crowley converted all three of his shots on goal, including the conversion of Thaakir Abrahams’ try, but that was not enough to see his team over the line after the plethora of setbacks in the build-up to and during the match.
Munster lineout woes continue
Another week, another poor lineout display from the Munster pack. There was a notable improvement from the diabolical showing against Bordeaux last week, but frankly, it could only improve from that embarrassment.
Once again, it cost the Irish province ideal attacking positions. Munster looks set to make the play-offs from this point, but if they are to go deep into the competition yet again, they need to find some consistency at the set-piece. If not, then their play-off run will be short-lived.
It’s not just a fact of failing to secure possession from the lineout but the quality of the ball they receive from it. So often, they resorted to going to the front jumper, the banker ball, but that requires the scrum-half to throw a 15-metre pass at least to get the backline firing and the defence has that time to shoot up. This made it difficult for Alex Nankivell, Tom Farrell and others to get over the advantage line and gave Crowley less time and space to make a decision.
This obviously has a knock-on effect on the rest of the attack. With the lineout remaining one of the richest sources of tries, particularly in these kinds of conditions, Ian Costello needs to find a fix and fast.
Bulls Boks provide direction
After a woeful start to their Challenge Cup knockout match last week, White opted to start his Springboks stars against Munster this time around and was rewarded by doing so.
The likes of Goosen, Canan Moodie, Embrose Papier, and Jan-Hendrik Wessels were elevated to the starting line-up and all performed well in challenging conditions.
Goosen, in particular, was excellent as he steered the attack well and played in the right areas of the park. The Bulls have struggled in his absence in recent weeks and today he showed the quality he brings at number 10 after White was forced to use makeshift options in the form of Willie le Roux and Johannes. While the latter came on and played a huge role in the victory, he had a strong platform to work with thanks to the work done by Goosen.
Last week, White also replaced Coetzee at half-time after the experienced back-rower had produced a man of the match performance the week prior and this time around he was rewarded again for leaving him on for the entire 80 minutes.
14 men for 14 minutes
A tough review awaits Andrea Piardi after today’s showing with the Italian official admitting that there are “too many rules in this game” after his blunder resulted in Munster playing with 14 men for 14 minutes.
This occurred when replacement tighthead prop Stephen Archer was forced off the pitch and we were subjected to uncontested scrums as the Munster veteran had come on for Oli Jager, who had failed his HIA in the first half.
Where the referee went wrong was that he believed that the Irish province should have gone down a man which is not the case. In the event of a head injury to one front-row and a “contact injury” to another, and there are no other suitably trained replacements to fill the position, the referee must call for uncontested scrums and NOT lose a man with another replacement simply coming on.
Munster down to 14 and unless I am mistaken, seems like the incorrect call from the officials pic.twitter.com/5ZbEnQNsd4
— CaolánSRugby (@CaolanSRugby) April 19, 2025
However, Piardi ordered Munster to go down a player with Alex Kendellen leaving the pitch. This sparked discussions on the sidelines and eventually Munster’s case was heard and proven right, with Kendellen returning, albeit 14 minutes later.
That was a clear error on the referee’s part and one that understandably annoyed captain Tadhg Beirne. However, it was not the only call that will have angered the Munster fans with Coetzee’s try also coming from an error.
Piardi and his officiating team failed to notice that Bulls number eight Cameron Hanekom had taken the quick tap leading to the try by bouncing the ball off his thigh.
World Rugby law 20.8 with regards to taking a penalty or free-kick, states: “The kicker may punt, drop-kick or place-kick (other than for touch) the ball.”
A tap and go, as it is generally referred to, is essentially a punt and in World Rugby clarification all the way back in 2004, it states that “A kick is made by hitting the ball with any part of the leg or foot, except the heel, from the toe to the knee but not including the knee.”
According to that clarification, Hanekom’s actions should have been deemed a “knock-on or throw forward” meaning that Munster would have got the scrum. Instead, the Bulls scored a few phases later.
Munster fight
Although Munster won’t be happy with the result, they can certainly be proud of the effort despite the multiple setbacks they suffered.
Craig Casey and Peter O’Mahony were both named in the starting line-up but withdrew before kick-off, with Conor Murray and Jack O’Donoghue filling the void while Paddy Patterson and Rory Scannell were added to the bench.
They were further disrupted when Jager was forced off the pitch in the opening 15 minutes, and despite calls for Coetzee’s try and unnecessarily going down to 14 men, they showed real heart and determination to stay within touching distance of a win.
While the lineout remains an area of real concern, the coaches will be pleased that, like many Munster squads before this one, there is no lack of effort or heart when pulling on that jersey.
It was just as much of a character win for White’s charges, who few would have fancied to get a result at Thomond Park but the Pretoria-based franchise rose to the challenge. Even when they faced adversity of their own as one of their biggest weapons, the scrum, was taken away from them. The Bulls also conceded a much higher penalty count, 9-14, and have been on the road for a third successive week.
READ MORE: The radical TMO change Steve Diamond has called for following his six-match ban
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/munster-v-bulls-five-takeaways-as-officiating-mare-dampens-historic-first-south-african-victory-at-thomond-park
