Munster 22-10 Racing 92: Irishmen secure home quarter-final
Last Updated: 22/01/17 5:30pm
Munster finished second in the Champions Cup seedings after beating Racing 92 22-10 at Thomond Park on Saturday.
A tense affair played out in the first half as Munster nosed ahead 7-0 at the break thanks to a Simon Zebo try which was converted by Tyler Bleyendaal. Maxime Machenaud and Bleyendaal then traded penalties early in the second half before Ronan O'Mahony made it 17-3 to the hosts with a 50th-minute score.
Racing hit back through Henry Chavancy to make it a seven-point game, but Ian Keatley wrapped things up when he took an inside pass from Andrew Conway to cross for Munster's third try as the Irishmen held out for the win.
The victory means Munster will host a quarter-final in the next stage of the competition, but will have to wait for results in Pool 2 on Sunday to discover who will be visiting Limerick.
Racing assistant coach Ronan O'Gara returned to his old stamping ground and while the result did not go his way, the Munster legend was given a hero's welcome by the appreciative home fans.
Racing's revenge mission started on a solid footing, their scrum holding steady and full-back Brice Dulin exemplifying their eagerness to play with width.
Although the visitors dictated during the opening quarter, captain Machenaud missed his first kick at the posts and a promising Munster attack was spoiled when Ronan O'Mahony was tackled and then isolated.
Munster began to find their rhythm just past the 20-minute mark, opting for a scrum from a close-in penalty with Rory Scannell and Zebo subsequently threatening from a few metres out.
TMO Alan Falzone ruled out a potential try for Conor Murray after Matthieu Voisin did just enough to thwart the leaping Munster scrum-half from a ruck, but fly-half Benjamin Dambielle, who had been swatted away by man-of-the-match CJ Stander on a muscular midfield break, soon saw yellow for a blatant ruck infringement near his own line.
Racing defended doggedly until Zebo wriggled over just to the right of the posts, touching down under a pile of bodies with Bleyendaal converting. The Ireland star had to react sharply to deny Marc Andreu at the other end, before Machenaud split the posts with the last kick of the half.
When play resumed, Bleyendaal restored Munster's seven-point advantage after being hit with a high tackle by Leone Nakarawa, and clever tactical kicking from centre Scannell kept the hosts on the front foot.
The red-clad forwards responded by upping the intensity, continually getting over the gain-line before Bleyendaal and Scannell passed to the left where winger O'Mahony scrambled his way over for a seven-pointer.
However, Racing hung in there as they profited from Munster's sloppiness, their usually reliable defence allowing centre Chavancy to carry hard and stretch out for the try-line. Following TMO confirmation, Machenaud converted for 17-10.
Munster had more in reserve, though, as O'Mahony almost scored from a lovely dink in behind by Murray and that elusive third try finally came when Conway did really well to draw in three defenders and release Keatley for a closing
unconverted effort.
