European Rugby Cup: Toulouse crucifies Munster at the end of the suspense
What a foot! Toulouse was able to keep its cool on Saturday in Dublin to crucify Munster after a very rare penalty shootout (4-2, 24-24 after extra time), and climb for the fourteenth time in its history in the last four of the European Rugby Cup. In a cathedral silence, the three designated Toulouse scorers, Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos and Romain Ntamack, in that order, did not tremble in the face of the poles in an exercise yet so unusual in rugby. At the end of the suspense, after 100 minutes of a very intense legendary match, the second failure of the young Irish opener replacing Ben Healy (22) delivered the defending champion, pushed to his limits as rarely. As champions, Stade Toulousain went with great pride and courage to seek their fourth consecutive semi-final in the competition. After Ulster in the eighth and Munster in the quarter, he could find a third Irish province there, Leinster, opposed to the English of Leicester in the afternoon. With most of his Blues in the starting XV, the five-time continental champion, who was still struggling this season to find the optimal fuel, has finally lived up to his status in a great classic of European rugby. Deprived of its usual enclosure, Thomond Park in Limerick, by concerts by British popstar Ed Sheeran, the “Red Army” had made the trip in large numbers to the capital, Dublin, to adorn the green seats of the ‘Aviva.
Lebel wakes up
The Munstermen, pushed by their audience, drew from it the extra soul necessary to overthrow Toulouse’s superiority in the first act, particularly flagrant in melee. A domination rewarded with a try by winger Matthis Lebel, already decisive when Toulouse won last year, in the round of 16 (40-33), for the first time in its history at Thomond Park, then emptied of its public by the Covid-19. Under a rare sun on the Emerald Isle, the people of Toulouse, who had already
seen Ntamack responded immediately to the opening of the Irish score, then seemed on a royal road to repeat their exploit (14-7). Two tries from Munster just before and after the break, by Keith Earls and Mike Haley, reversed the dynamic, further accelerated by the yellow card lost to Australian second line Rory Arnold for a tackle at the limit of red on Simon Zebo. Toulouse, led by ten points (24-14), found incredible mental resources not to surrender.
Struggling for success this season with only three tries scored so far, Lebel put his team back in the saddle by mystifying Zebo to offer himself a double, before Ramos, impeccable against the poles, equalized on a penalty (24- 24).
Physically worn down by the big fight they managed to put on for 80 minutes, both teams failed to add any more points during extra time, despite two pinfall attempts. The rest is already part of the history of the European Cup.
AFP