This is incredible.
This is really like the Munster of old.
You can’t imagine this time last year that Munster would be able to come back from a disappointing first half display where they shipped two soft tries and conceded an alarming number of line breaks.
Bizarrely though, Munster found themselves only two points down at half-time thanks to tries from Jack O’Donoghue and Francis Saili.
The first half display will have frustrated Rassie Erasmus and the rest of the coaching ticket, Munster seemed hell-bent on handing possession back to the Ospreys which occurred through a number of unforced errors and kicking possession straight back to the home side.
The possession and territorial stats reflected this as Munster only had 31% possession and 34% territorial advantage in the opening 40 minutes.
It was an improved performance in the second half and the southern province eventually grasped victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to a Dave Kilcoyne try just minutes from the full-time whistle.
Darren Sweetnam played a key role in this try which yielded the praise of Ireland legend, Brian O’Driscoll.
He's a big fan https://t.co/uUL75iYDZK
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 18, 2017
However it was Munster dogged defensive efforts which ultimately won them the game.
Although they conceded two tries and their line speed was poor for a time in the first half, the Munster players racked up incredible numbers to keep the waves of Ospreys attacks at bay.
Here are some of the top performers.
- Jack O’Donoghue -25
- Billy Holland – 21
- Dave O’Callaghan – 20
- Tommy O’Donnell – 19
- Rory Scannell – 15
That’s 100 tackles between just 5 players.
Ridiculous.
This is a huge testament to the players because to still come out with the win in the dying minutes after you have put in such a grueling defensive shift for most of the game is the perfect example of this team’s resolve and will to never give up.
