Such was the dominance of Munster’s pack in Leicester’s heaviest defeat in the Champions Cup that it could be said the Tigers did not have a leg to stander on.
CJ Stander, playing at No8 rather than blindside flanker where he has made his name for Ireland, showed how difficult it will be for the Lions’ selectors to decide their back-rows for next summer’s tour to New Zealand, never mind the three who will start the first Test against the All Blacks on 24 June in Auckland.
Leicester have rarely been so physically inferior to opponents. They crumpled before Stander, who combined gainline breaking charges with an ability to force turnovers by constantly ripping the ball from last season’s semi-finalists. Backed up by the flanker Peter O’Mahony, the No8 helped ensure Munster played on the front foot throughout.
“I do not know who CJ is competing against in terms of the Lions but he must be a contender,” said Rassie Erasmus, Munster’s director of rugby. “We were nervous about this game after being beaten twice by Leicester last year and we never thought about getting five points out of it. We are not getting carried away because we have to go there at the weekend and they will be fired up.”
Leicester have in recent seasons made a habit of bouncing back after heavy defeats, not least in October when they defeated Racing Metro at Welford Road in the Champions Cup a week after conceding 42 points in Glasgow.
“We need to sit down, look at ourselves and make sure we put some pride back in the shirt,” said the Leicester captain, Tom Youngs. “There is no excuse for a team being more hungry than you: we lost the physical battle, held up in possession and stripped of the ball. We were never able to have a go at them and we have a week to make sure we play a lot better.”
They also need to keep their discipline. Leicester lost three players to the sin-bin: Ed Slater went nine minutes before the end of the first half for slowing the ball down at the breakdown; Manu Tuilagi followed after the break for a swinging arm that, fortunately for him, did not connect with an opponent; and George Worth missed the final nine minutes after committing a professional foul that earned Munster a bonus point from a penalty try.
“We have been knocked on our backsides and will take the count, get up and make it a contest on Saturday,” said Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill. “It will be very hard to get out of this pool and I do not imagine that the team that finishes second will but we need to ensure we put a stake in the ground on Saturday and meet their confrontation head on.”
Leicester may be without their outside-half Freddie Burns and wing forward Michael Fitzgerald, who both left the field for head injury assessments and failed to return. The England prop Dan Cole, who missed the match with a badly cut leg, will be assessed during the week.
A year ago Leicester did the double over Munster in the back-to-back rounds and now face the reverse happening. “They are pretty much the same team we played last year but there was a negative vibe around the place then,” said Cockerill. “For tragic reasons, they have found the Munster of old and all credit to them.
“It is a different place and if it were in memory of Anthony Foley, he would be very proud. We are both big clubs in Europe who have had their ups and downs in the changing landscape of rugby in the last 10 years. They are a good club. I am not sure I would say I like them but I have a huge amount of respect for them.”
Munster Zebo (Conway, 68); Sweetnam, Taute, R Scannell, Earls; Bleyendaal (Keatley, 72), Murray (Williams, 63); Kilcoyne (du Toit, 57), N Scannell (Marshall 75), J Ryan (Archer 75), D Ryan, Holland (Kleyn, 57), O’Mahony (capt), O’Donnell (O’Donoghue 57), Copeland.
Tries Zebo, Taute 2, pen Cons Bleyendaal 3 Pens Bleyendaal 4.
Leicester Worth; Thompstone, Tuilagi (Brady, 75), O Williams, Betham; Burns (Roberts, 51), B Youngs (Harrison, 55); Genge (Cilliers 76), T Youngs (capt; McGuigan, 59), Mulipola (Bateman, 31), Slater, Kitchener, Fitzgerald (Hamilton 43), O’Connor, McCaffrey (Evans, 66).
Sin-bin Slater 31, Tuilagi 58, Worth 71.
Referee R Poite (Fr). Att 26,500
