At the end of Munster’s nerve-popping 20-19 win over Toulon, Johann van Graan went to the halfway line and took a knee.
It was a personal moment – one between van Graan and ‘My God’ – at the end of a scintillating game of rugby.
The South African was well aware of what he was buying into when he arrived at Munster but days like this only reinforce his belief that the province, and team, is something special.
The Munster head coach has already overseen some huge performances but, given the opposition, fixture and their own injury list, this was the best… so far. Van Graan commented:
“I think gratitude is the word. Two great rugby sides, two incredible clubs, who went for it for 80-odd minutes. [You] plan for it but it is pretty hard to execute it, I think gratitude is the main word, it’s a fantastic honour.
“I don’t think many people gave us a chance but if you’ve got a squad of players who believe and a club that believes, you can make dreams come true.”
There were so many big moments in the 20-19 Munster win but Andrew Conway stepped up with THE moment. With less than five minutes to play, Conway caught a Francois Trinh-Duc clearance high above his head, 46 metres out and an inch away from the sideline, and proceeded to scoot, jig and burn past half the Toulon team.
Watching from New Zealand, former Munster star Ronan O’Gara was in awe:
For a player to do that 75 mins into a brutally physical match,having being out for over 6 wks is simply stunning. Well done Andrew C.. no need to take the wallet out with you tonight.#warrior.
— Ronan O Gara (@RonanOGara10) March 31, 2018
It was a stunning try of sheer brilliance and one that stunned the French side. Ian Keatley converted and there were some big defensive plays from individuals in Munster red as they closed out a superb quarter final win.
On what was going through his head for that Conway game-killer, van Graan said:
“When Trinh-Duc kicked, I thought it was going straight into touch. It was right in touch with the coaches’ box. We saw their wing [Joshua Tuivosa] actually run past and then it opened up.
“All credit to Andrew. The last game he played here was against Castres [in January]. I said earlier in the week that it was all credit to our medical staff and to Andrew for pulling through. Him delivering a magic moment after 75 or 76 minutes, and to finish a game like that after coming back from injury. That’s what this team are all about.”
Asked if this was his finest moment as Munster head coach, van Graan replied:
“If it’s going to be something better than this, it’s got to be amazing.”
Munster fans will be hoping that this season gets more amazing.
