Leinster’s lack of intensity was alarming at times this evening.
Matt O’Connor’s side had little concentration defensively, their back three didn’t fancy the high ball, and their second row pairing had no physical influence.
Look away Leinster fans, here are your team’s ratings after a terrible night in Thomond
Zane Kirchner 7
One of the few Leinster backs that looked like making yards with the ball. Took a heavy hit from Pat Howard in the second half, but in the end, came out with a respectable performance in the circumstances.
Darragh Fanning 6
Made a hames of an early garryowen, and never really got going all day. Was replaced after his second half yellow card, but was very unfortunate to be sin-binned in the first place.
Luke Fitzgerald 6
Got his feet in a muddle at the wrong time as CJ Stander crossed for Munster’s first try, and never really recovered. Looks raw at 13, but it’s an experiment worth keeping up.
Gordon D’Arcy 4
A bad day for D’Arcy in defence, shooting up through the line leaving Andrew Conway cross the line, before losing concentration for Munster’s third try as Dave O’Callaghan put Munster out of sight.
Dave Kearney 5
Made a couple of decent carries, but looked really lost under the high ball, and looked to be lacking in concentration at times.
Ian Madigan 7
Missed one kick that could have put two points in it after Paddy Butler was penalised, but would be harsh to criticise him too much. Always looked to try something when he got the ball, but his teammates never chipped in.
Isaac Boss 6
Similar to Madigan, he tried to inject some pace into the game when Leinster needed it, but could only do so much when the rest of their teammates weren’t on the ball.
Michael Bent 7
Had a decent enough battle in the scrum with Stephen Archer and then with Botha. Far better as a loose-head than at tight, where he really struggles.
Richardt Strauss 6
Got away with some throws that looked to drift to the side, and never got going. Didn’t play poorly, but had very little presence.
Tadhg Furlong 8
One of the few Leinster players to emerge with some credit after putting another solid showing at tight-head. Gave Munster’s John Ryan plenty of problems, and is a real emerging talent in a position where Ireland badly need one.
Mike McCarthy 6
The Leinster second row were were far too quiet at crucial times, and didn’t have a fraction of the aggression that Munster’s players were glowing with. McCarthy was anonymous at times.
Kane Douglas 6
Made one big hit on Ronan O’Mahony in the second half, but aside from that, lacked any real presence. Similarly to McCarthy, an anonymous player at times.
Dominic Ryan (not rated)
An early blow to the head ended Ryan’s night early, and he couldn’t be rated.
Shane Jennings 7
Took his try well, and worked his balls off at times. Got through plenty of work, but Leinster’s pack as a whole were second best at the breakdown.
Jack Conan 6
An excellent offload and carry to set up his backrow partner Jennings to touch down, but too little too late from Conan.
Subs
Jordi Murphy 5
A silly penalty for not rolling away let Keatley put Munster five in front just seconds after Madigan had cut the deficit to two, and he never really improved after.
Jimmy Gopperth
Tried to inject some pace into things when brought on for Fanning, but in 15 minutes he was never going to make a big impact.
Luke McGrath
Similar to Gopperth, McGrath made a decent effort to speed things up for Leinster, but the game was dead by the time he could have any influence.
Tom Denton and Aaron Dundon not on long enough to be rated.
