Passionate Munster down poor SA A side

The South African A side slumped to an poor 28-14 defeat at the hands of Munster in their opening tour match in Cork on Thursday night.

While it was always expected that Munster would punch above their weight, the manner in which the SA A side played throughout - a side that included no less than 14 internationals - was not only poor, it was embarrassing for the Springbok brand.

While the scoreline may not reflect it, Munster were by far the better side and could easily have won by more, while the SA A side looked like a side that had only practiced together twice, failed to lift the intensity to what the game required and did themselves no favours in terms of selection hopes for the future.

FULL-TIME: Munster 28-14 South Africa Select XV

What an epic occasion as we beat a South Africa touring side for the 1st time ??

A huge thanks to the record crowd of 41,400 for roaring us to victory on a brilliant night ??#MUNvSAA #MunsterInThePáirc #SUAF ?? pic.twitter.com/LgWbqnM7oK
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) November 10, 2022

While it would be easy to say Munster were always going to be tough in front of 41 000 baying home fans, this is the same Munster side that are missing several international players, filled their ranks with academy players and are lying 14th out of 16 teams in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

Munster now have added a South African scalp to their historic wins over Australia, New Zealand and the Maori All Blacks but would never have thought it would have been this easy.

There will be few in the current Springbok group who are shaking in their boots at the prospect of a younger player taking their place.

And while there were individual performances that warrant praise, the collective was disjointed, the defence out wide was brittle to be kind and the big moments were always won by Munster.

For several of the players hoping to impress, they needed to show they belonged in international rugby. What they produced was more a URC standard and one we sometimes see from SA sides in the URC when they fail to come to terms with the Northern Hemisphere weather.

The problem is, next year’s World Cup is in the northern hemisphere and there is every chance the Boks could encounter similar weather in the tournament.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

There were a few players that excelled - Ruan Nortje looked classy and made a mockery at times of Munster’s lineout. The forwards dominated the scrums, but little else and cameos by Grant Williams and the Du Preez twins were good to watch.

But they were all individual performances.

Part of the problem can be laid at the feet of the halfbacks in the game. Herschel Jantjies is a far cry from the form he showed before the last World Cup and his labouring service only stunted a Bok attack the few times they got onto the front foot in the first half. His tactical kicking was also poor in the conditions.

But Jantjies wasn’t helped by Johan Goosen, whose performance would have been scrutinised to see if he is the solution to the flyhalf problem.

Goosen looked uncomfortable behind the scrum and never took charge. He looked definitively like a player still a few games away from his match form and would have done little to help his cause.

In a game that cried out for a 10 to use the conditions to keep Munster pinned back, we never saw any of this.

Munster found the space out wide much to their liking as a combination of a backline not in sync about their defence and a few players shooting out of line opened up an easy run in for Shane Daly in the second minute.

The second try was a virtual carbon copy as the ball sped wide and found Simon Zebo with an easy run-in as well. These were not hard-worked tries, they were gifts on a platter for Munster.

Just before the break a rolling maul that found Diarmuid Barron at the back to touch down and score Munster’s third try.

The fourth came just after the break for Mike Haley as he latched onto a grubber and already the game was lost, just four minutes into the second half.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Only then were the subs called in and the introduction of Williams for Jantjies was a breath of fresh air. Suddenly the pack looked a bit more menacing, the ball exited quicker and the Boks got some momentum. But they were playing catch-up and Munster played the percentages and got away with what they could.

Missed try-scoring opportunities by Suleiman Hartzenberg and Sikhumbuzo Notshe could have made the difference but Notshe got over a few minutes later as the SA A side looked to claw their way back.

But it was never to be against a Munster side with their tails up and a famous victory was rightly celebrated by an inspired home side while the SA A side limped away licking their wounds.

Munster punched above their weight and played with passion. The SA A side, for all their talent, never even got close to their own standards.

And that in itself will be a missed opportunity for Springbok rugby.

It's all over in Cork, well done @Munsterrugby on a well-deserved win in tough conditions. We go again next week in Bristol.#MUNvSAA pic.twitter.com/eMweUOvlrs
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 10, 2022