URC sanctions Munster’s manager Graham Rowntree after 34-19 to the Stormers due to….
Graham Rowntree’s side lost 34-19 to the Stormers in South Africa following previous defeats to Leinster and Zebre
Bernard Jackman described Munster’s as “rudderless” as the Reds suffered their third loss in five United Rugby Championship matches on Saturday.
Graham Rowntree’s side lost 34-19 to the Stormers in South Africa following previous defeats to Leinster and Zebre. A number of mistakes proved costly for the Reds against a Stormers side who started the round bottom of the URC table.
Former Ireland and Leinster hooker Bernard Jackman said on RTE: “I felt they got a little bit rudderless, a little bit loose and that’s been symptomatic of how they’ve been playing.”
Former Munster player Donncha O’Callaghan added: “It was a frantic game of rugby. It was the closest thing to a Baabaas [Barbarians] training session on a Thursday.
“It was all over the [place] in terms of structure.
“I’d say the coaches will be incredibly annoyed because there were so many opportunities, so much stuff that if you go back and review and say ‘if’, ‘if we made these passes’ but the big areas are… you are going nowhere in professional rugby if you haven’t got a set-piece.
“The inaccuracies, and the individual errors were off the charts.”
However, Rowntree vowed that his side won’t fall apart despite their poor run of form. He told RTE: “We just killed ourselves there. I thought we were in that game at half-time, came out in the second half and our discipline was poor.
“They score a good try there, then we have our opportunities to nail them with our lineout, we couldn’t do it.
“We start giving away penalties in the scrum, then we’re chasing the game.
“At key moments, it [the lineout] didn’t [work]. We’re shelling penalties in the scrum, 11 penalties we conceded and they all counted. It’s a hugely frustrated and down dressing room, for good reason.
“I thought we were in that and suddenly we weren’t.”
The Munster head coach added: “I said to the lads in there, we’ve got to stick together now and be strong.
