Craig Casey says Munster victory over Racing was 'for Axel'

Munster 33 

Racing 92 25

Craig Casey said beating Racing 92 was important to honour late head coach Anthony Foley as Munster got their Champions Cup pool campaign up and running on the 10th anniversary of his death with a 33-25 victory in Cork on Saturday night.

Munster needed scrum-half Casey’s 77th minute try in a player of the match performance to make sure of the win in their Pool 3 opener, played in front of 24,906 supporters on Leeside, having led 14-6 at half-time and 28-18 at the hour mark.

Brian Gleeson, playing in Foley’s position at No.8 but wearing the number 24 with the traditional starting jersey retired for the night as a mark of respect for man who died aged 42, had replied to an early Racing penalty with a sixth-minute try before wing Shay McCarthy scored a wonderful solo effort on 12 mintues, both scores converted by rookie fly-half Charlie O’Shea.

The second half saw Munster captain Tadhg Beirne scoring in the 42nd minute, Racing wing Wilfried Hulleu replying four minutes later and then the French Top 14 giants closing the gap further through a maul try for hooker Diego Escobar. Munster’s replacement lock Fineen Wycherley struck back on 60 minutes, replacement fly-half JJ Hanrahan converting, only for Racing centre Joey Manu’s try converted by Antoine Gibert to close the gap to 28-25 soon after.

A yellow card for an aerial tackle on Munster full-back Ben O’Connor by replacement back Arthur Roche handed the initiative back to Clayton McMillan’s side with nine minutes remaining and they saw out the game superbly by retaining possession before Casey made certain after peeling away from a strong lineout drive with two minutes to go.

"I think the confidence in the group is spot on, you can see where we're growing,” Casey told Premier Sport afterwards. “We've improved a lot, there's a good buzz in the group.

"This week, it was important to get the win for Axel, for our crowd, for Axel's family and all the Munster faithful.

"It was a different week, a different feel all week. You're trying to pull back on the emotion and concentrate on the performance, it felt different all week, it felt like a one-off game. It didn't feel like we were going into the first round, it felt a lot more special than that, a lot more meaningful.

"Thankfully we did pitch up, because that man deserved it. He deserved the performance today, hopefully he'd be proud of us."

The Munster squad and management had gathered in a circle around the centre spot at full-time to belt out Stand Up and Fight in Foley’s honour, a repeat of the team’s actions the day after the former captain’s funeral, when Glasgow Warriors were beaten on an emotionally charged day at Thomond Park.

"I was on the East Terrace the week after he died, I couldn't have been prouder of Munster that day,” Casey recalled.

"You want to be part of that, how well we rallied around everyone that week and I was only in sixth year, but it drove me to want to be a part of the club.

"It's a special week, he's a special man. His legacy will be with every Munster team from here until the very end of time.

"We talk about him constantly, we wrap up every game with 'Axel'. His family is very special to us, thankfully we honoured him with a win today."

MUNSTER: B O’Connor; S McCarthy, A Nankivell, D Kelly, S O’Brien; C O’Shea (JJ Hanrahan, 57), C Casey (B O’Donovan, 78); J Loughman (J Wycherley, 57), M van der Merwe (M Clein, 78), J Aungier (K Brookes, 57); T Ahern (F Wycherley, 59), T Beirne - captain; S Edogbo (J O’Donoghue, 53), J Hodnett, B Gleeson (G Coombes, 53).

RACING 92: G Prisciantelli; W Hulleu, V Habosi (S James, 49), J Manu, S Tupou (A Roche, 57); A Gibert, A Latrasse (M Machenaud, 49); E Jabea Njocke (L Leota, 44), D Escobar (Y Basse, 77), G Kharaishvili (D Bamba, 44); T Lainault, J Joseph (N Hughes, 61), L Tagitagivalu, N Martins, M Baudonne – captain.

Yellow card: A Roche 71 mins.

Replacement not used: S Camara.

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)