Laying down a marker.
There’s not much else to say about Munster’s disappointing 26-10 defeat to Saracens at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Munster were beaten and were beaten well.
However, the first half offered up so much passion and work-rate from the home side.
This wasn’t enough in the end but it still very encouraging going forward.
Munster have a lot going for them but they just need to develop their game a little bit more in certain areas to achieve ‘next-level’ status.
The atmosphere during the first half of Saturday’s encounter will live long in the memory.
It’s been a long time since that famous roar was belted out with such enthusiasm and intensity.
With some incredible fielding from the likes of Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway to the dominance shown in the Munster scrum early on, there was no shortage of reasons for the crowd to get involved.
Many of the supporters may have missed it, due to the breathtaking pace of the game in the early minutes but Donnacha Ryan added another reason for supporters to get up off their seats.
Donnacha Ryan setting the tone early. pic.twitter.com/iEeO9bLGRa
— Three Red Kings (@threeredkings) April 23, 2017
As you can see Ryan, in no uncertain terms, doesn’t like the presence of the English out half in and around the ruck.
So he throws him to the floor in emphatic fashion.
To be fair to Farrell, it didn’t get to him as he put in a great display which helped his team to a comprehensive victory.
And it didn’t stop him having a pint in Dublin with his Dad after the game.
Class https://t.co/uk9zqjNJp2
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 23, 2017
