Biarritz knocked Munster out of the Heineken Cup today with an impressive 18-7 win in the second semi final in San Sebastian. They progress to the final where they will face fellow French side Toulouse in Paris on May 22nd.
Keith Earls scored a good try for Munster as they went into the halftime lead 7-3 up, but in the second half the forward pack of the Biarritz side ground them down, allowing Dimitri Yachvili to show his class as he kicked them to victory.
Six kicks from six attempts meant that whenever Munster stepped out of line, they were made to pay as they threw everything into it in the final ten minutes.
The game wasnt as entertaining as one might have hoped, with both sides coughing up a few unforced handling errors that halted the flow to some extent. The tension rose near the end though, as Biarritz held on and the crowd got behind them.
Man of the Match Yachvili said afterwards that hes very proud to have made the final.
“This is very emotional – we left everything out there. We were in a bit of bother in the first half – but we realised that our mental strength, solidity and team spirit could get us through and we proved our mettle,” he said.
Imanol Harinordoquy, who played with a broken nose and then left with injured ribs after 66 minutes, was overjoyed afterwards.
“The lads did a fantastic job – group spirit brought us through. We want to win it now as Toulouse have been champions before and we haven’t.”
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