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Benetton miss out on semi-final spot after gut-wrenchingly narrow loss to Munster

By Online Editors
Benetton Treviso fly-half Tommaso Allan

Benetton Rugby’s best ever season ended in a gut-wrenching 15-13 defeat at Thomond Park as JJ Hanrahan’s late penalty from halfway guided Munster into the Guinness PRO14 semi-finals.

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The first Italian club to ever reach the PRO14’s knockout stages, Benetton were the better team and scored the game’s only try through Fijian winger Iliesa Ratuva on the stroke of half-time.

Tommaso Allan’s terrific touchline conversion gave them a 10-3 buffer, with Tyler Bleyendaal and Allan having exchanged earlier penalties.

Sloppy Munster were on the cusp of a shock quarter-final exit when Allan replied to Bleyendaal’s second penalty.

However, the latter’s replacement, Hanrahan, proved to be the hosts’ saviour as he knocked over a trio of penalties, including the decisive 76th-minute strike after Dewaldt Duvenage’s kicking away of the ball had moved the penalty into kicking range.

There was still further drama as Benetton surged downfield, twice setting up drop goal attempts at the death which were sent wide by replacement Antonio Rizzi and Jayden Hayward.

Munster’s collective relief was obvious as they advanced to their fourth PRO14 semi-final in five years – another all-Irish clash with old rivals Leinster at the RDS on Saturday, May 18.

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Darren Sweetnam started in place of Keith Earls who failed a late fitness start, but the hosts were boosted by Conor Murray’s inclusion at scrum half.

Bidding to become the first Italian side to win at Thomond Park, Benetton absorbed the early pressure, Munster twice gaining ground with their maul but Toa Halafihi and Braam Steyn smothered Murray a few metres out.

Two more try-scoring chances went a-begging as Sweetnam was stopped short from a wide move, before Tadhg Beirne knocked on in a big defensive win for the Italians.

Bleyendaal opened the scoring with a long range 22nd-minute penalty after Murray was taken out at a ruck. However, no clear release saw Munster captain Peter O’Mahony quickly cough up three points to Allan.

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High tackle counts from the Treviso forwards continued to frustrate Munster, whose attack was too predictable at times.

Marco Riccioni’s scrum penalty and Allan’s clever touchfinder clawed back hard-won territory late on, Hayward’s quickly-taken lineout and break paving the way for Benetton to go wide and Ratuva’s diving one-handed finish in the right corner stunned the mostly-red attendance of 10,042.

Following Bleyendaal’s second penalty just three minutes after the restart, Benetton showed their threat again with a slick Tito Tebaldi-inspired attack and, had Steyn held onto a pass, the try was on.

A similar knock-on from replacement Hame Faiva, in front of the Munster posts, ruined Ratuva’s excellent midfield break past four defenders.

Successive penalties, with CJ Stander and Hanrahan the guilty parties, led to Allan’s 59th-minute penalty, with Munster left to rue a lineout steal by Federico Ruzza.

Momentum was finally behind the hosts, though, as Hanrahan strung together two penalty goals for a 13-12 scoreline, rewarding the impact of the province’s bench.

It was Munster’s play-off experience which ultimately got them out of jail. Dogged defending saw Ratuva tackled short, the visitors then falling foul of referee Nigel Owens’ whistle as John Ryan and Stander won crucial penalties.

Kerry native Hanrahan stepped up to nervelessly nail his 50-metre kick and Munster desperately hung on despite the Italians’ strong carrying in the final minutes.

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Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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