Carbery left Leinster last summer to join Munster and get more chances at fly-half
European Champions Cup |
|---|
Munster (6) 9 |
Pens: Carbery (3) |
Exeter (7) 7 |
Try: Armand Con: Simmonds |
Munster ground out victory to eliminate Exeter and confirm their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals in front of a gleeful Thomond Park.
Don Armand's try gave Exeter a narrow half-time lead but the visitors could not open up the seven-point winning margin they needed to progress.
Instead Joey Carbery's precise kicking off the tee ensured a 12th straight European home win for Munster.
Munster's quarter-final opponent will be decided in Sunday's pool games.
Munster have reached the semi-finals in the past two tournaments and that experience told as the knock-out stages effective arrived a match early for them and Exeter.
Champions Cup Pool Two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Played | Won | Points | |
1. Munster | 6 | 4 | 21 |
2. Exeter | 6 | 2 | 14 |
3. Castres | 6 | 3 | 14 |
4. Gloucester | 6 | 2 | 9 |
With defences stiflingly tight, the match was fought primarily over the breakdown - where Munster second row Tadhg Beirne was the star performer - winning a clutch of turnovers.
When he departed with a leg injury late in the second half, Billy Holland came on as his replacement to deliver the match's pivotal moment.
A point down, five metres from their own line and with 13 minutes left, Munster looked in real danger of going out.
Exeter hooker Jack Yeandle opted to throw to the back of the lineout in pursuit of the converted try that would have put his side eight points up - the lead required for a last-eight place.
But Holland read his intentions, claiming a superb take and, via a couple of Exeter infringements, Munster headed back down the other end to set up Carbery's nerveless 72nd minute penalty.
Those points were the first to bother the scoreboard since the 22nd minute, with Armand's powerful short-range burst giving Exeter early hope.
The match had few openings and plenty of errors, but the ferocity of the contest made it enthralling nonetheless.
Munster fly-half Joey Carbery to BT Sport: "It was not pretty to watch. There are lot of sore bodies out there, but it was a huge result and we can park this now until March. In Knock-out rugby anything can happen.
"Credit to Exeter they are a super team and it was a like a brick wall, we just couldn't break them down."
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter to BT Sport: "I am hugely proud of the boys. We have kind of achieved everything we wanted to but it has not quite added up to winning the game. We have take that on the chin.
"We are getting very close and working really hard and we have developed some things over this European campaign that you we can keep developing."
Munster: Haley; Conway, Farrell, Scannell, Earls; Carbery, Murray; Kilcoyne, Scannell, Ryan; Kleyn, Beirne; O'Mahony (capt), O'Donnell, Stander.
Replacements: Goggin for R. Scannell (57), Mathewson for Murray (64), Loughman for Kilcoyne (66), Marshall for N. Scannell (72), Archer for Ryan (55), Holland for Beirne (66), Botha for O'Donnell (41). Not Used: Bleyendaal.
Exeter Chiefs: Nowell; Cordero, Slade, Devoto, O'Flaherty; Simmons, White; Hepburn, Yeandle (capt), Williams; Dennis, Hill; Skinner, Armand, Kvesic.
Replacements: Whitten for Devoto (57), Moon for Hepburn (53), Cowan-Dickie for Yeandle (57), Holmes for Williams (67), Lees for Dennis (50). Not Used: Lonsdale, J. Maunder, Steenson.
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion, external on Twitter.
