Bordeaux-Begles charged into the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals after battering an uncharacteristic Munster outfit 47-29.
The hosts bashed and botched the Irish province in an emphatic performance with the scoreline truthfully flattering the visitors.
Munster fans were euphoric last week as their men dumped two-time champions La Rochelle out of the tournament with a clutch drop-goal through the boot of Jack Crowley but there was no such heroics this week despite Bordeaux contriving to undo all their fine work in the final quarter.
Munster’s failings
To their credit, the French outfit were sensational in their dismantling of the proud Irish club as Damian Penaud scored the opening try to break Chris Ashton’s Champions Cup record before they cut loose with the man of the match Maxime Lucu, flanker Pete Samu, and teenager Jon Echegaray all scoring in a magnificent 35 minutes.
But Munster will be simply seething at their efforts, particularly in that first half hour, as they only managed a reply through Alex Nankivell just before half-time to cut the lead to 29-10 at the break.
The men in red historically thrive in this tournament and usually prove to be the dark horse, but even when Bordeaux threatened an implosion, they failed to capitalise.
Lock Cyril Cazeaux gave the visitors the ideal opportunity to fight back into the match as he was sent to the sin bin and Andrew Smith quickly pounced to score but a yellow card on either side of Maxime Lamothe’s score put Munster comfortably on the backfoot again.
A penalty try and a card to Echegaray, followed by another Smith score gave Munster some hope, but the final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Louis Bielle-Biarrey even after Cazeaux was shown a second card.
While Bordeaux may have threatened an implosion, Munster successfully managed to execute their own downfall with a shambolic lineout display.
For a team that has prided itself on its excellence at the set-piece with experts like Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan and Peter O’Mahony to name a few, today’s showing was nothing short of embarrassing.
It was amateurish as time and time again the Irish province failed to secure possession at the set-piece, and while Bordeaux does deserve some credit with Cazeaux, Samu, Adam Coleman and Guido Petti making life difficult for Munster, it was more a case of wretched execution than a competing masterclass.
The lineout remains one of the richest sources of tries in rugby, and at this level, in a knockout match like this, against a team of Bordeaux’s quality, one cannot surrender the best-attacking platform in the game in such a manner.
There were several horrific lineouts throughout the match, but perhaps the pick of the lot was Niall Scannell’s throw, which was simply picked off without Tadhg Beirne even getting off the ground at the front. That is supposed to be a banker ball, an easy get, as it is difficult to launch backline attacks from there, and there is a threat of being shunted into touch when forming the maul. Instead, it was a banker steal for Bordeaux in what was arguably the most in-sync throw and catch of the match, just too bad it wasn’t to a Munster hand.
All the classic Munster grit and determination meant nothing as they cut themselves off at source. It was so bad that the blame cannot be pinned on one player like the hooker throwing or Beirne’s calling. An area of serious concern and it has been for a long while now that must be fixed if they hope to be successful in the URC.
It was particularly disappointing for the side as they managed to get parity and, at times, dominance at the other set-piece, the scrum, an area of the game few would have even given them a chance considering the talents of Jefferson Poirot and Ben Tameifuna in Bordeaux’s arsenal. Ultimately, it was not the kind of performance fitting of a team of Munster’s calibre, pedigree and history.
Bordeaux’s ringmaster
While Munster underwhelmed at lineout time, the same cannot be said of Bordeaux’s attack.
Every circus needs a charismatic ringmaster, and in Matthieu Jalibert, Bordeaux have the perfect man for the job.
For the likes of Penaud, Bielle-Biarrey and co. to put on an exhibition of their talents, they need someone to showman to orchestrate proceedings and Jalibert did precisely that today.
His kick-through for Penaud was simply gorgeous, while he continually weaved his magic with deft touches to punch holes in the red wall.
He hasn’t quite been able to steer the France attack as well as he does for Bordeaux, but when he hits his stride for the Top 14 club, it is a sight to behold.
Munster were expecting Joey Carbery to feature given his knowledge of his former employers, but instead, it was the French magician who took the reins and that decision was ultimately the right one despite the Irishman’s excellent showing last week.
Jalibert’s place-kicking was flawless, but it mattered little in the grand scheme of things as he ran an attack that sliced the Munster defence to shreds.
Biellie-Bierrey, Penaud and the sensational teenage full-back Echegaray will steal the headlines, but they were brilliantly put in a position to do so by their ringmaster and his side act Lucu, who again was utterly superb throughout the 80 minutes.
Record-breaking Damian Penaud
Ashton’s record of 11 tries for Saracens in a single of the Investec Champions Cup looked untouchable, having stood for over a decade, but it has been well and truly shattered by the world-class Penaud.
The French flyer is simply box-office, and of course, he did it in trademark blinding fashion as he latched onto a stunning kick from Jalibert, scooping the ball up on the pace and dived over the line after just five minutes.
Penaud has been accused of ‘going to sleep’ on defence by France head coach Fabien Galthie, but on attack, he is a rugby genius as highlighted by this incredible record.
His tally this season includes a double hat-trick against the Sharks, a triple against Exeter Chiefs and further scores in the wins over Ulster.
Bordeaux’s soft underbelly threatens Champions Cup tilt
Yannick Bru will fancy his side’s chances of winning the Champions Cup as they progress to the semi-finals where they will face either Toulouse or Toulon. However, he will be well aware of his team’s shortcomings that could be their downfall.
For all their liquid rugby on attack and brutality up front, there is a soft underbelly that teams like Leinster, Toulouse and Toulon will exploit much more ruthlessly than Munster did today.
Sure one could argue that Echegaray’s indiscretions didn’t deserve to be punished with a penalty try but it certainly warranted a yellow card and put the team under unnecessary pressure.
The same is very much true for Cazeuax’s double yellow carding. The lock’s execution was simply poor and had they faced a team that had a functioning lineout, they may well have come even closer to blowing a grand winning position.
Last season, they were in with a shot of winning two trophies and were put to the sword by Harlequins who did punish their soft moments in the Champions Cup while they were absolutely hammered in the final of the Top 14 by Toulouse.
If they want to do better this season, sort out the discipline and stay switched on right until the end and not allow those loose moments to gift the opposition a route back into the game.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/opinion-munsters-embarrassing-execution-not-befitting-of-proud-club-while-bordeauxs-soft-underbelly-threatens-title-charge
