Under-the-weather Munster gave away ‘freebies’, admits Graham Rowntree
Craig Casey shows his frustration as Munster fall to defeat
Northampton Saints' Angus Scott-Young applauds the fans after the game
Connacht’s Bundee Aki on his way to scoring his side's fifth try against Pau
Munster coach Graham Rowntree confirmed that a number of his players were unwell in the lead up to and during their Champions Cup Round of 16 defeat to Northampton Saints.
But the former England prop said his side must take responsibility for the errors that cost them so dear as they failed to score after half-time at Franklin’s Gardens to exit the competition before the quarter-finals for the second successive season.
Sitting beside Rowntree at his post-match press conference, captain Tadhg Beirne was barely able to speak through the fits of coughing while scrum-half Craig Casey vomited on the pitch before the start of the second-half.
Northampton Saints' Angus Scott-Young applauds the fans after the game
“Frustrated. I spoke to the lads afterwards about... I keep using this expression ‘giving them presents, giving them freebies’,” he said.
“Some big moments there where they were that good on transition when we dropped the ball or made an error and they were gone.
“There were some big swings in the game where we could have scored a try if someone held a pass, we would have scored, but they won the ball back and a few phases later, they scored. So those errors, I thought we gifted them.
“I’m proud of our effort. We stuck in there, a proper game of rugby.
Connacht’s Bundee Aki on his way to scoring his side's fifth try against Pau
“It’s not been a straightforward week in terms of availability and illness.
“As you can hear from my man (Beirne) here, it’s not been the most straightforward but we rolled our sleeves up and got on with it for a big game against a great team. I’m proud of our effort but we’ll sit down and look at how we don’t give away those presents.”
In Sunday night’s Challenge Cup clash, Connacht fought back from 11 points adrift in the third quarter to defeat hosts Pau 40-30 and book a place in the quarter-finals away to Benetton next Sunday.
