The Craig Casey message to fans amid 'turbulent' Munster season

Munster skipper Craig Casey said the love for the club shone through in the victory over the Lions which secured a BKT URC Play-off spot and Champions Cup rugby. Despite being down to 13 men at one stage, the Irish province emerged with a 24-17 win at Limerick’s Thomond Park to finish fifth in the league and set up a quarter-final clash away to the Vodacom Bulls.

Summing up the achievement, scrum-half Casey said: “It means an awful lot. It’s been a turbulent enough season for us, but we’ve stayed strong as a group. I think the love of the club shone through today. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs through the week, a few people going out through injury and a few young fellas stepping in.

“I think it was important for us to send off a few legends in a good way. We would have done them an injustice if we didn’t show up. We are a resilient group. We have been through the ringer this year. We went through an awful lot, but stuck together and it shows in times like this.

“We haven’t been perfect this season, we’ve a lot to work on, but we’ve given ourselves a chance.

“We have been through a tough time. This is massive for us. Champions Cup rugby is paramount for this club. Damn it feels good.”

Casey picked up the Player of the Match award after leading by example with an inspirational try-scoring display. “I put a lot of pressure on myself this week,” he admitted. “It was my first time captaining at home, but I had a lot of support from the group. First and foremost, you’ve got to show up. I wasn’t perfect by any means, but I hope the fans saw how much it means to all of us.

“That’s what kind of shines through on days like this. The supporters mean an awful lot to us. We’ve given ourselves a chance and we’ve given them a chance.”

Addressing the fans, he said: “Keep following us, we love you all. We will keep fighting for all of you.”

Adding his thoughts, head coach Clayton McMillan said: “It’s probably relief more than anything. Not just the blokes out on the field, but the 15,000 in the stands and lots in their homes. There was big pressure coming into a game like this where it’s pretty obvious what we needed to do. It was never going to be easy, but I thought our guys acquitted themselves well under the circumstances. We were tough when we needed to be.

“I’m pleased for the players. We’ve been working hard to give ourselves an opportunity to get to finals rugby and that’s been achieved.”