Sarries fall short in Limerick

Saracens fell well short of reward after a very disappointing last half hour in which they never recovered from the sin-binning of substitute Rhys Gill for a dangerous tackle after 51 minutes. Ironically it came when the visitors were in the ascendancy, showing their most sustained attacking threat of the match, but by the end, it was only the eleven missed points by Munster fly half Ian Keatley which kept Sarries in with a chance of a losing bonus point.

The sides came into this match after contrasting opening fixtures, whilst Saracens had a relatively comfortable bonus point win, Munster got out of jail winning 27-26 through a drop goal in the last play of the game. Saracens' last visit here was two seasons ago in a tight 15-9 defeat, perhaps notable for the unusual disruption to the visitors' line-out. Four changes for Sarries: rotating their half-back partnership to Neil de Kock and Owen Farrell, perhaps surprisingly in the latter case given his limited game time so far. Marcelo Bosch came in for Chris Wyles at outside centre whilst a minor injury saw Jim Hamilton replace Alistair Hargreaves, in a side captained by Brad Barritt. The hosts changed two of their front row with James Cronin coming in at loosehead and BJ Botha at tighthead.

In a sold-out Thomond Park in the wind and rain, the match started off at a frenetic pace, with both sides opting to kick in the opening few minutes. Saracens had the chance to break the deadlock after 5 minutes when Denis Hurley didn't release on half-way and up stepped Marcelo Bosch, but he just failed to clear the crossbar, having got the direction right. Munster's main attacking threat was coming from their short kicking game, but generally they were knocking on from these. However, on nine minutes, Saracens strayed off their feet and the penalty took play to the edge of their 22 - Munster made a series of drives without making much ground and forced another penalty as the visitors failed to roll away. From the resultant penalty, Keatley struck the outside of the right hand post and Munster narrowly failed to convert the loose ball for the opening try, but knocked on.

Saracens were not making much attacking ground, but defending well and content to kick to the half way line. With a real battle emerging in the scrum, the match was being slowed down by constant resets. Munster forced another opening on 19 minutes, though, as Sarries were caught offside on halfway, and the hosts kicked for touch taking them inside the opposition 22. As they pressed forward, a stray pass isolated Andrew Conway on the right and Munster conceded the penalty for holding on. A rare attacking foray saw David Strettle break through and just fail to collect his own kick, but it was Munster who would take the lead after 26 minutes through Keatley. A Simon Zebo kick through forced a lineout and from the rolling maul, Conway just failed to collect Keatley's crossfield kick so play was brought back for the penalty. Saracens replied with their best move of the match so far, as a penalty took them within range of the Munster line. With Bosch at the heart of the move, a flowing move took play from right to left and back again, forcing a relatively straightforward penalty on the left which trickled just wide for Farrell.

Enjoying more possession now, Saracens patiently went through the phases, one reverse pass from Jamie George to de Kock catching the eye in particular. With Munster penalised for hands in the ruck, Farrell had another chance to level the scores, from a similar distance to the one he missed, but on the right. He took it, so 3-3 after 35 minutes. The half closed as Keatley missed the chance to put Munster into the lead. The break saw Gill come on for Richard Barrington, and the visitors started the second half well, as Hamilton pinched a Munster lineout and a Farrell kick caused problems for the Munster rearguard. Four minutes in, Farrell released Chris Ashton for a fine break through the middle, and he kicked to the left only to just elude Strettle, in what was a fine counter-attacking move.

Saracens swapped scrum half as Richard Wigglesworth came on for de Kock and the attacking pressure continued as Saracens won a scrum ten yards out, only for Munster to win a vital penalty to clear the threat. Then things changed. With Munster struggling to gain possession or territory, Gill was sinbinned for a dangerous tackle on CJ Stander on 51 minutes, following the involvement of the TMO. James Johnston was brought on for du Plessis as Munster advanced from the resultant penalty and earned another as Saracens failed to release. Keatley converted to make it 6-3 and the visitors made another change as Duncan Taylor came on for Bosch. Unlike the start of the half, the territorial advantage was now squarely with Munster.

On the hour, a Conway try in the right hand corner was ruled out, seemingly for a knock on, but in truth a tight call from the TMO. Play was brought back for an earlier infringement, and from the close range lineout, substitute Dave Kilcoyne finished off from a powerful rolling maul, but Keatley failed to add the extra two as it stayed 11-3. Given the rescue acts seen already this season, and with some 20 minutes to go, Saracens were still in the game. Instead, though, handling errors began to creep into their game.

On 64 minutes, Alex Goode, secure under the high ball up to that point, fumbled a crossfield Keatley kick horribly, and Munster pressed for another try from ten metres out. They went through the phases and Keatley stretched the home lead to 14-3. Jackson Wray came on for Will Fraser shortly afterwards. Munster retained possession well and their kicking game continued to cause Saracens problems, but another Keatley penalty miss still gave the visitors a glimmer of hope of at least a bonus point, with ten minutes still to go.

Having withstood a spell of pressure their best chance came on 74 minutes as a move instigated by Wigglesworth took them deep into Munster territory, but another knock on meant the chance was gone.

So, a disappointing night against a highly motivated opposition and crowd. Crucially, Saracens never really regained control after the Gill yellow card, as they were reduced to a sporadic attacking threat. In terms of the wider competition, both sides still need to travel to Clermont Auvergne, but it looks like the return match against Munster at Allianz Park in January could well be the pool decider.

MUNSTER

Jones, Conway, Smith, Hurley, Zebo, Keatley, Murray, Cronin, Casey, Botha, Foley, O'Connell, O'Mahony, O'Donnell, Stander        

Replacements:-Guinazu, Kilcoyne, Archer, Holland, Copeland, Williams, Hanrahan, Van den Heever

SARACENS

Goode, Ashton, Bosch (Taylor), Barritt, Strettle, Farrell, De Kock (Wigglesworth), Barrington (Gill), George (Spurling), Du Plessis (Johnston), Kruis, Hamilton (Botha), Brown, Fraser (Wray), Vunipola

MUNSTER 14: Try - Kilcoyne; Pens - Keatley (3)

SARACENS 3: Pen -Farrell

Attendance 26,500

Referee:Jerome Garces (France)