Gerry Thornley: Munster’s turnaround in South Africa also gives Connacht and Ulster a helping hand

In the end, we needn’t have fretted about them.

Munster embarked upon their South African safari in fifth place in the URC table but in very real danger of slipping down to sixth, seventh or even eighth were they to lose their two games against the Stormers and the Sharks, and the very real prospect of ending their unbroken 28 years of participation in the Heineken Champions Cup.

Being consigned to the Challenge Cup may, it has been argued, have offered them a better chance of ending that trophy drought dating back to 2011.

However, it would have been a hugely damaging blow to their brand and brought a further reduction in attendances and income at a time when the Limerick hurlers are increasingly attracting a younger fan base.

So, to have emerged from those two games with a win and a draw demonstrated that the old fire still burns, not least when their backs are against the wall.

It was also quite a turnaround in form after the dual setback of losing 38-26 against the Glasgow Warriors at Thomond Park and the 50-35 beating inflicted upon Munster in the Champions Cup round of 16.

In the event, that loss to Glasgow wouldn’t have affected Munster’s fate – namely a quarter-final in Scotstoun next Saturday week.

They clearly learned their lessons from their previous trek to Durban against the Sharks, not least in making a better fist of protecting their breakdown ball and in picking Conor Murray from the start.

Not doing so in the Champions Cup round of 16 tie looked an error then and even more so now. While Craig Casey was given scant protection at the breakdown, it was revealing to note that Murray remained on the pitch for over 70 minutes in the last two games. Graham Rowntree and Mike Prendergast were again vindicated in selecting the departing Ben Healy on the bench.

Even so, when they trailed 22-3 early in the second half amid the heat and humidity, the South African commentators reckoned the away players would be “looking at their fuel gauge” as, by their own subsequent admission, they were “writing Munster’s obituaries”.

The Sharks had scored three tries by the interval and had the whole second period to register a bonus-point win and move above Connacht; their only hope of securing a Champions Cup place.

Instead, after Murray worked a penalty try and Boeta Chamberlain missed a key penalty to the corner, Healy’s first touch was a pinpoint cross kick for Calvin Nash’s opportunistic finish before Murray’s close-range finish earned a draw.

Munster kept playing, kept looking to offload and in the last play were held up over the line to be denied a remarkable win.

Munster not only did themselves a few favours over the last couple of rounds of the URC, but gave a significant helping hand to Ulster and Connacht as well.

By dint of beating the Stormers, Munster opened the door for Ulster to finish second, which they duly did with home wins over the Dragons and Edinburgh.

Hence, were Ulster to overcome Connacht in the quarter-finals they would have a home semi-final against the winners of the Stormers against the Bulls.

In other words, Munster beating the Stormers could help to ensure Ulster have a lucrative and advantageous home semi-final in Belfast rather than having to make the trek to Cape Town or Pretoria.

That is the fate which would befall Connacht should they upset the odds and beat Ulster in the Kingspan Stadium. Even so, they’d take that now and, like Ulster, they are in the opposite half of the draw from Leinster for, as Andy Friend said “respectfully” after the crunch win over Cardiff, “no-one wants to play that lot” despite Saturday’s 62-7 thrashing by the Bulls for a callow Leinster side in Loftus Versfeld.

Thanks to Munster’s draw against the Sharks, Connacht knew that come kick-off in Glasgow they were still a point above the Sharks and thus already assured of seventh place. Despite the illness and absence of Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen, Connacht hung tough and secured a bonus point.

Connacht were even pressing to end Glasgow’s 16-game unbeaten home sequence in the game’s last play too to jump to sixth. While this would have enhanced their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions Cup, it would also have meant an away quarter-final against the Stormers in Cape Town rather than a trek up the road to Belfast.

In the event, Connacht finished seventh and with Cardiff having secured Champions Cup qualification as a result of winning the ‘Welsh Shield’, Connacht will also qualify provided the Scarlets or Benetton don’t win the Challenge Cup and claim a place.

So, Connacht would ideally like Toulon to beat Benetton and Glasgow to win away to the Scarlets in the Challenge Cup semi-finals next weekend.

Connacht could also miss out on the Champions Cup were the Sharks to win the URC, as the champions also take a place if their final position doesn’t do so. Of course, Connacht could always win the URC themselves.

Four of the five Energia All-Ireland League promotion finals will also take place on Saturday week, with Clontarf and Terenure also having set up a repeat of last year’s AIL final at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday week in the ‘new classico’.

The pair again finished in the top two and won home semi-finals, albeit in contrasting styles as Terenure beat Dungannon 30-12 while Clontarf clung to a taut 13-12 win over Young Munster.

At least 500 Munsters’ supporters swelled the attendance to 2,432 for their first semi-final in six years and tenth away game of the campaign.

Young Munster receive about €7,000 in travel subsidies from the IRFU for the season, and the cost of a trip like last Saturday’s is circa €4,000. Little wonder then that they cheered when hearing of Shannon’s 12-6 promotion/relegation semi-final win over Old Wesley, so earning Shannon a home ‘final’ against Highfield on Saturday week.

Shannon preserving their 1A status both ensures Young Munster of a lucrative home game next season and saves them an away day excursion from Limerick.