IN TRUTH, CLERMONT deserved their four points in Thomond Park but had the final set-piece of the game gone Munster’s way, the French side could have come away with only two.
Anthony Foley’s men probed desperately in the closing minutes, hammering at the superb Clermont defence in vain.
A last-minute line-out five metres from the Clermont provided one concluding opportunity to at least allow Ian Keatley a kick to draw the game.
In such circumstances, most defensive teams would opt to stay on the ground and set themselves more ideally to defend the maul. Instead, Clermont made the ballsy decision to get into the air, with Damien Chouly picking off the ball in front of Paul O’Connell.
As simple as that? Was it something Clermont’s analysis had pinpointed in the build-up?
“Just during the game he adjusted his call and I saw it. It was psychology as well.”
Clermont edged the line-out battle in an overall sense, while their maul try was in contrast to Munster’s failings in that area. The scrum swung into Munster’s favour in the second-half as Wayne Barnes pinged the Frenchmen at least three times.
Chould expects Munster to bring even more in that aspect next weekend at Stade Marcel Michelin.