It is lucky for Niall Scannell that he had a grasp of his basic duties and responsibilities.
The first half of Munster’s Champions Cup clash with Leicester Tigers was a gritty affair.
Neither side could claim true dominance and the half ended 6-6 after Tigers survived being down to 14 men during Manu Tuilagi’s latest trip to the sin-bin.
Munster shredded Tigers at Thomond Park last weekend but this was a nip-tuck affair. It was reflected in the match statistics as the two side’s traded heavy blows up front.
The biggest yard-gainer between both sides was Ben Youngs [26 metres] while Munster outhalf Tyler Bleyendaal gained 21 metres after two decent carries.
Scannell had a curious half. He was part of a Munster pack that won two scrums off their own feed and he found all five of his line-out jumpers.
Other than that… not much.
While many were mocking Dan Carter for his zero carries, line breaks or offloads in Racing 92’s Champions Cup loss to Glasgow, last night, Scannell was even more anonymous.
Scannell did not have a single carry, pass or kick in the entire opening 40.
In defence, he made one successful tackle but did concede a penalty. In rugby, certain fans always talk about the ‘unseen work’ by particular forwards.
Scannell must have been extremely busy with the unseen work as he rarely showed up for much else.
In fairness to the Cork native, he has been having a fine season thus far and was excellent in last week’s 38-0 win over Tigers last week.
The second half saw Scannell get involved a tad more. He made five more tackles and won a turnover. Up until the 74th minute though he had made only one carry. Then, off a lineout maul, he really stepped up…
74 | Niall Scannell you beaut.. and the whole pack of course #LEIvMUN 15-14
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) December 17, 2016
Two carries in the entire game, off his two possessions, and one try. Some would call that dangerously efficient.
Unfortunately for Munster, it was not enough as Owen Williams’ late, 55-metre penalty made it 18-16 to Tigers. Munster leave Welford Road with a bonus point and will need to do the double over Racing 92 next month to advance their chances of making the knock-out stages.
