After a shaky start, Munster rallied to a convincing win this afternoon, but not without Gloucester’s help.
The English side started well in Thomond Park, disrupting Munster’s flow and spoiling a couple of early line outs.
Their discipline completely caved though, and Munster punished the Premiership side.
It was all looking so good for Danny Cipriani, after his recent England snub the much maligned out half stepped up to kick a booming penalty with his side down to 14 players.
However, the good times didn’t last as Cipriani received a straight red for a high tackle. It didn’t look like there was intent, but by letter of the law it was a red card, and a bad week got a lot worse for the English man.
Danny Cipriani has been sent off 🔴
He knew straight away he was going to be shown red for this tackle.
He apologised on his way off but his week has gone from bad to worse… pic.twitter.com/XGga2MHz2P
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 20, 2018
The red card was the big talking point after the game and Munster coach Johann Van Grann admitted that there was no intent from Cipriani, but the referee handled the situation by the book.
“Look, World Rugby informs us of the way the game is going and player welfare is important. we’ve got to adapt to that. It is certainly something you train. There was certainly no intent from Stephen Archer, from our side. And there is no intent from Danny as well, on their side. Unfortunately, a red card makes the game difficult and we have to adapt to the letter of the law.”
Peter O’Mahony echoed Van Grann’s sentiment, highlighting that the high tackle is not a new trend in Rugby, it’s something that players have had to do adapt to their whole playing careers.
“It’s not something a player has to worry about. You know, we have to trust the officials on their adjudication and trust them 100%. We have so much to worry about that it is not something we have to worry about. The high tackle has been penalised forever in the game, do you know what I mean? It’s never been allowed. It’s not like guys are starting to do it now.”
Slick 😎
Munster run in try number four and it's beautiful!
What an off-load from Joey Carbery 😍 pic.twitter.com/Af8l7TWQvZ
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 20, 2018
The Munster captain highlighted that nobody wants to concede penalties, which means there is very rarely intent in these situations.
“No-one wants to give away penalties any more because of the pressure you put on yourself. So there’s no guys doing it with intent. There are guys with good foot-work out there who will put you off balance. And 9 times out of 10 it is a genuine accident
“By the letter of the law, if you are upright and you are high, you are in trouble. And as Johann has said, I don’t think there was any intent from any of the lads today. But if you’re awkward and you’re upright, it’s always been part of the game that you’re penalised. It’s just that it is in the spotlight at the moment.”
FT: Munster 36-22 Gloucester
It was always going to be tough for Gloucester after Danny Cipriani saw red in the first-half… pic.twitter.com/lQNdFZQ0O9
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 20, 2018
O’Mahony reiterated in the most Munster slang term imaginable, that in some cases, players are so good that thet force you into mistakes.
But, as I said, there are guys out there with foot-work now that you have to snap into late or you’ll probably end up glauwming at because they are that good. But, again, letter of the law. If you are upright and you’re awkward, then you are in trouble. And a lot of the time there is no intent but that is just the law.
