Image source, InphoImage caption, Munster scored five tries to start their 2026-27 Champions Cup campaign with a win
ByJonathan BradleyBBC Sport NI senior journalist- Published41 minutes ago
Investec Champions Cup
Munster (14) 33
Tries: Gleeson, McCarthy, Beirne, F Wycherley, Casey Cons: O'Shea 3, Hanrahan
Racing 92 (6) 25
Tries: Hulleu, Machenaud, Manu Cons: Gibert 2 Pens: Gibert 2
Munster started their Champions Cup campaign with a 33-25 win over Racing 92 on an emotional night at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
The game was played a decade and a day on from the passing of Munster legend Anthony Foley - the first Munster captain to lift the Heineken Cup - who died in his sleep before a scheduled fixture between these two sides in October 2016.
Before kick-off in Cork, the Shannon RFC choir gave a moving rendition of There is an Isle, the club song that formed such a memorable part of Foley's Limerick funeral.
Neither side took to the field with a player wearing Foley's number eight, while there was also a minute's applause in the eighth minute of a game attended by members of the former Ireland back row's family.
Munster led by 15 points early in the second half after Tadhg Beirne followed first-half tries from Brian Gleeson and Shay McCarthy with a score of his own, but Racing were allowed back into the game.
Second-half tries from Wilfried Hulleu, Maxime Machenaud and Joey Manu, with only Fineen Wycherley crossing in response, had the French outfit within three points going into the final minutes.
Arthur Roche's late yellow card hampered the comeback effort, however, and Craig Casey made the game safe with a try two minutes from time.
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Three-time beaten finalists in this competition, Racing 92's form across the early weeks of the Top 14 has been indifferent with the Parisians languishing in 12th domestically after four losses in six games.
While they took the lead through an early Antoine Gibert penalty, across a largely listless first half they rarely looked like the side who made it to European showpieces in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
Once the great entertainers on the European scene, this iteration of the side were intent on putting boot to ball early on but got little change from the aerial game.
Gleeson, wearing number 24 for Munster given the absence of the usual number eight jersey, charged off the base of a scrum after six minutes to erase the visitors' early advantage and his side were on top for the remainder of the first half.
McCarthy gathered a somewhat fortuitous bounce before dancing through the visitors' backline for Munster's second score of the evening after only 13 minutes and, in truth, head coach Clayton McMillan will have felt his side were deserving of a greater advantage going into half-time.
A second Gibert penalty cut the lead to eight, but Munster had a great chance to take a more comfortable score into the break only to misfire at a key line-out with the final play of the half.
Second-half struggles again for Munster
After surrendering a 21-point lead in the second half against Ulster last week, Munster will have needed no reminder about the need to finish the job here.
Any nerves over a potential repeat would have eased considerably only four minutes after the restart when captain Beirne rounded off a spell of pressure by crashing over the line from close-range.
But last week's failings were evident again as the opposition were allowed back into a game in which they had barely threatened previously.
Two tries in the space of seven second-half minutes cut Munster's lead to just three, with Hulleu scoring an opportunistic first for his side before replacement scrum-half Machenaud found himself in unfamiliar territory to finish off a close-range maul.
If Racing's bench initially lifted their performance, Munster got the desired impact from their replacements too with Wycherley's first involvement coming when Casey beautifully delayed a pass to put the lock through a gap and over the line.
But just as it looked like Munster were in the clear, Racing came back again.
Manu's try, which came after a slick interchange of passes with Hulleu and Sam James, was perhaps when Racing most looked like the team of old, but their efforts were quickly hampered by Roche's yellow for a clumsy collision with Munster full-back Ben O'Connor.
Against 14 men, Casey sniped over after breaking off the back of maul to score Munster's fifth of the night and finally secure the win.
The hosts will, however, again be looking for greater consistency across the 80 minutes when they return to United Rugby Championship action away to Leinster next weekend.
Line-ups
Munster: O'Connor; McCarthy, Nankivell, Kelly, O'Brien; O'Shea, Casey; Loughman, Van der Merwe, Aungier; Ahern, Beirne (c), Edogbo, Hodnett, Gleeson.
Replacements: Clein, J Wycherley, Brookes, F Wycherley, G Coombes, O'Donovan, Hanrahan, O'Donoghue.
Racing 92: Prisciantelli, Hulleu, Habosi, Manu, Tupou; Gibert, Latrasse; Njocke, Escobar, Kharaishvili; Lainault, Joseph, Tagitagivalu, Martins, Baudonne (c).
Replacements: Basse, Leota, Bamba, Hughes, Camara, Machenaud, James, Roche.
Sin bin: Roche (70)
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
