Latest
Overview
Season so far
Tournament record
Leicester Tigers are braced for a Munster backlash at Welford Road after returning from Thomond Park with a record win. - 16/12/2015 12:46
Leicester Tigers are braced for a Munster backlash at Welford Road after returning from Thomond Park with a record win.
Tigers inflicted Munster’s heaviest home defeat in the European Rugby Champions Cup with a 31-19 win.
In doing so, they became the first club to beat Munster twice at their near-legendary Limerick home.
However Man of the Match Locky McCaffrey warned his Leicester team-mates not to waste their heroics in this week’s rematch at Welford Road.
He said: “We knew we had to put in a big display to get on top and we did. But unless we front up next weekend then this win won’t mean much. We knew there would be times we were under pressure and Munster were tough.
“But we have so much confidence in the team right now that we can play for the full 80 minutes. We’re really excited every time we pull on the jersey and we know we can get even better.”
Vereniki Goneva, Michael Fitzgerald and Ben Youngs all crossed as Leicester maintained their unbeaten run in the Champions Cup to top Pool 4.
Munster have now lost three of their last European ties and head coach Anthony Foley is demanding a vastly improved performance at Leicester.
He said: “We just weren’t good enough. We missed a kick to go 9-6 up then Leicester road the back of a big call and we conceded three of the softest tries I’ve seen us concede.
“We didn’t take our opportunities. When you work so hard to get close to the line, that’s when there’s pressure on your attack but we didn’t look after the ball. A couple of times we kicked away too much ball, gave away a couple of soft turnovers and didn’t put pressure on them
“But in the scrum and the maul, Leicester beat us fair and square. Now it’s up to us to go to Welford Road and reverse the result.”
Match Facts
- All four meetings between these sides that have been at the home of one of the teams (excluding the 2002 final) have been won by the away side.
- Leicester have won 26 and drawn two of their last 29 matches on home turf in the Champions Cup, their only loss coming against an Irish opponent (Ulster).
- Munster have won five of their last eight away fixtures in the Champions Cup despite losing their last two such games.
- Munster have averaged just 60 completed tackles per game so far, fewer than any other side in the competition.
- Brendon O'Connor has won more turnovers than any other player this season (7).
- Munster are one of just five sides yet to be awarded a yellow or red card in this campaign.
- When Munster last visited England they suffered their heaviest ever defeat in an away game against English opposition, losing 33-10 to Saracens.
- This is the first time Leicester have faced Irish opposition in the back to back round 3 and 4 fixtures of European rugby since 2004, when they beat Ulster at home and lost on the road.
- Tigers have won six of 10 home games against Irish opposition in the Champions Cup, including three of the last four games.
Leicester prend le large en tête de la poule 4 après son deuxième succès en une semaine sur la province irlandaise
Leicester Tigers strengthened their grip on pool four with a hard-fought victory over Munster.
Vereniki Goneva’s try 15 minutes settled a fierce contest in favour of the home side and all-but-ends Munster’s chances of qualification for the knock-out stages.
Munster had led 10-6 at the break thanks to Ed Slater’s first-half try but there was little to choose between the two sides for much of the contest.
The visitors started well and had the Tigers under early pressure, allowing Ian Keatley to knock over a penalty.
Keatley was jeered by a section of the Munster support after their 31-19 defeat at Thomond Park the previous week and the outside-half missed his second attempt at a penalty after 14 minutes.
Tigers began to get a foothold in the game and made the most of their possession with the game’s opening try on 23 minutes. After getting within touching distance of the Munster line it, Slater forced his way over with Freddie Burns adding the conversion.
Burns added a penalty for the home side but the Tigers shot themselves in the foot right on the stroke of half-time when Dom Barrow was shown a yellow card for not retreating 10 yards at a penalty and Keatley clawed back three points.
With Barrow off the pitch Munster had Tigers under pressure and crossed the whitewash through prop James Cronin only for his try to be ruled out for a forward pass.
Keatley then missed a second penalty attempt as Munster failed to make the most of their one-man advantage.
Burns had the chance to punish them with a second penalty heading into the final quarter but he also pushed his effort wide as both 10s started to feel the pressure.
Munster almost scored an incredible try when former All Black Francis Saili broke from his own 22 and ran 80m before being hauled down by a superb tackle from Telusa Veainu, with Tigers then winning the penalty which allowed them to clear.
The decisive try came when a quick penalty put Peter Betham clear for the Tigers and he found Goneva on his shoulder to go under the posts.
LIVE - TEST - Commentary