No coach likes to lose and Johann van Graan doesn’t buck that trend but considering the circumstances surrounding and during Munster’s 13-8 defeat to the Exeter Chiefs, there were several reasons to be cheerful.
Seven frontline players missed the Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 first leg through injury or, in the case of Simon Zebo and replacement hooker Diarmuid Barron, gastroenteritis. That handicap initially appeared insurmountable as the Exeter dominated for much of the first half but Munster’s cussedness and a dollop of good fortune here and there enabled them to stay in the fight.
How Munster managed to be only 10-3 down at the interval on the balance of play was a minor miracle but at that point van Graan was able to address several issues. He explained: “We needed to sort out our breakdown and our scrum at halftime; (it) was a lot better in the second half and we needed to get field position.
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- April 11, 2022
