Martle's Place

SARACENS V MUNSTER




Heineken Cup Semi Final

Ricoh Arena - Coventry

Saracens almost achieved what most people had said was impossible as they lost in a pulsating Heineken Cup Semi Final 16-18 to Munster at the Ricoh Arena.

The game finished with Saracens pushing for glory in the Munster 22 but the Irish Province’s defence held them out in the dying seconds to deny the Men in Black a famous victory.

Munster led at the break 7-15 hitting back after an early score from Kameli Ratuvou with tries of their own from Ronan O’Gara and Alan Quinlan but the second half saw Saracens battle back, despite being two men down at one point, and close the gap through the boot of Glen Jackson.

It was left to Lifeimi Mafi to kick the ball dead with the clock run down to send Munster through to meet Toulouse at the Millennium but Saracens can be proud of their performance as they pushed the clear favourites all the way.

Saracens got off to a dream start after being pinned in the own half for the opening few minutes.

Deciding to run the ball from within his own 22, Glen Jackson then threaded a neat grubber kick through the Munster defence, which Kameli Ratuvou snapped up and raced off down the wing. The Fijian flyer then stepped inside to find his support and fed Neil de Kock who then found Adam Powell with the centre setting off towards the posts.

The youngster was hauled down inches short of the line but had the presence of mind to present the ball properly and Ratuvou picked up the ball from the base of the ruck and touched down over the line.

Glen Jackson landed the conversion to extend his side’s early lead but Munster came back and were within a forward pass of replying from the restart, O’Gara having to make do with a penalty from in front of the posts to make the score 7-3.

For the next 15 minutes Saracens met fire with fire and contested every scrum and lineout with Leonelli posing a lot of questions out wide and the forwards shading the set piece.

Lifeimi Mafi butchered a four man over lap in the 21st minute. With the line in sight, the centre ignored his men out wide and went for glory but Saracens stood firm and the chance was gone.

After weathering the 5 minute storm Saracens looked to have kept their line intact after winning a scrum against the head for the second time in the half but after de Kock cleared to touch Munster hit back from the resulting lineout and O’Gara slipped through the midfield a phase later to run in unopposed.

Bizarrely the conversion attempt went to the video referee with the man in front of the TV ruling that the simple kick had gone wide so the scores remained close at 7-8.

Despite going behind Saracens still continued to take the game to Munster but the red wall of defence remained intact despite the Men in Black’s best efforts.

Five minutes of pressure inside the Munster 22 gave Saracens hope after turning over possession at a lineout after a pinpoint kick from Jackson but again Munster managed to foil Saracens’ attempts and eventually they turned over possession and cleared their line.

With the break approaching Mafi did his best to atone for his earlier gaff and made a half break from midfield. He then fed Doug Howlett who raced into the Saracens half and was eventually brought down on the 22 by Haughton and Leonelli.

Unfortunately for Saracens Munster arrived at the break down in numbers and with the ball recycled, Alan Quinlan picked up from the base and ran in unopposed to score under the sticks.

The try, in the last play of the half, was a real blow to the Men in Black as they had worked so hard and as O’Gara made sure of his conversion attempt this time the teams headed for the break with Munster 7-15 in front.

As the second half kicked off the heavens opened and O’Gara sent his kick off straight into touch handing Saracens a scrum on halfway.

The Men in Black made their advantage tell minutes later after taking play just short of the Munster 22 and with Nigel Owens penalising them for hands in the ruck Jackson made them pay with a penalty kick to make the score 10-15.

Saracens, still with their tails up, went straight back at Munster with great running from Ratuvou causing them all sorts of problems but their scrambled defence made sure that his efforts went unrewarded.

In the 56th minute a turning point looked to have been reached as Rua Tipoki was sent to the sin bin for not rolling away from the tackle in front of his own posts as Saracens pressed the line and when Jackson landed his second penalty chance Saracens were in with a real chance at 13-15 and with a man advantage.

However, the pendulum swung back dramatically minutes later as first Nick Lloyd was sin binned for reacting to something in a maul and he was followed by Cencus Johnston with the hulking prop despatched for being on the wrong side of a ruck minutes later.

O’Gara missed the first penalty chance for the Lloyd incident but landed the simpler one from in front of the posts minutes later and all of a sudden Saracens’ advantage had gone sour and Munster were 13-18 up with Saracens down to 13 men.

The match officials made a hash of it for the next five minutes as none of them seemed to have a clue what to do at the next scrum with two props in the bin and Cobus Visagie off injured. Eventually they forced the South African back onto the pitch for an uncontested scrum, minutes later he limped back off and thankfully there were no more to follow until both sides were back to their full compliment.

Munster couldn’t break through a stubborn Saracens side and despite their best efforts Saracens managed to contain them although there were a few hairy moments for Saracens fans to endure but Kevin Sorrell and Francisco Leonelli made enough tackles between them for the men off the pitch and Richard Hill insured that the ball that scrum half Tomas O’Leary got was very slow.

With 10 minutes to go the Tipoki and Lloyd were back on the pitch and despite still being a man down Saracens set about trying to take the game. At a lineout on the Munster 22 Quinlan turned from hero to villain as he appeared in an offside position to thwart de Kock’s pass and Jackson was handed a penalty chance out wide which he took with assured confidence to make the score 16-18.

It was looking as though Munster were on the ropes when Johnston returned from the bin with 5 minutes to go but you don’t reach the final stages 4 times by throwing in the towel and Munster defended with vigour to hold Saracens out as they went in search of the magic score.

In the dying minutes Cencus Johnston darted free from the base of a ruck and offloaded to Moses Rauluni who then popped the ball to Richard Hill but the Munster defence got back quickly and Saracens were penalised for not releasing.

With the clock run down and Saracens last chance foiled, all that was left was for Lifeimi Mafi to kick the ball into touch and Munster were through to the final.

Although players and fans alike won’t be feeling like it right now, they did the club proud in Coventry. The players played with the pride and passion deserving of a place in the final and fans, despite being outnumbered two to one, made sure that everyone knew they were there.