Two Muster players Andy Farrell must not ignore as Tadhg Beirne talks defeat and heartbreak
Two individuals asking pertinent questions of Andy Farrell - who was in attendance in Limerick - as to whether they should be a part of the Ireland squad for the summer tour to South Africa
Munster's John Hodnett and Jeremy Loughman, the loosehead once again true to a late season surge of form, may have been toughing it out against Glasgow.
Two individuals asking pertinent questions of Andy Farrell - who was in attendance in Limerick - as to whether they should be a part of the Ireland squad for the summer tour to South Africa.
But they were also swimming against a tide on a day when Munster's primary business should have been taking care of URC business, defending their title, and setting up a winnable final against Bulls.
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As it was Munster's half-backs struggled, the line-out mis-fired in a malevolent wind, the back-row defence was disjointed while there were scoring tariffs paid for over-elaboration in attack and poor tackling at key moments.
There is, alongside Hodnett and Loughman's Irish applications, a broad brushstroke when it comes to apportioning reasons for the unexpected reverse.
Craig Casey and Jack Crowley never fully recovered from shakey starts; three line-outs went astray while Munster were dominant; Glasgow out-half Tom Jordan barely had a hand laid on him, he seemed to have so much time on the ball.
And those two Scottish tries, a promising Munster attack until Antoine Frische flips a ball almost behind his back to Alex Nankivell that spills and is picked by Kyle 'greased lightnin' Steyn.
Moreover, how could such a big gap appear between Sean O'Brien/Simon Zebo to allow Huw Jones ghost through and set up Sebastian Cancelliere?
All before factoring in Glasgow's two yellow cards Richie Gray (11 mins), Matt Fagerson (60 mins) and Sioine Tuipolutu's Man of Match display from no12 comprising 15 carries for 37 metres, six defenders beaten and 12 tackles (four more than any other back in the game).
In truth Munster were well downed by the time Nankivell picked up a 76th minute red card for what was adjudged a reckless tackle, connecting with Horne's head at about two feet about the ground.
"We fell short but at the end of the day, they defended well but they also scored two tries whereas on another day that doesn't happen to us and we come away with a victory," said Munster skipper Tadhg Beirne afterwards.
"We’ve had some good opposition over the last two weeks but overcame, talked about the composure piece as well, of avoiding forcing things but at times we’ve had moments where we’ve gone off script, away from the game-plan and that has led to errors.
“We probably overplayed a little bit inside our 40 and that’s something we’re going to look at in the review, we don’t need to play five or six phases inside our 40, we should be clearing that.
"Not clearing it near the end leads to a scrum and then eventually to three points and unfortunately a red card so they’re moments in the game where we have to be smarter, be more composed and stick to the game plan."
Beirne, as did almost everyone in the ground, felt it would come right - that there was plenty of time even after the hour had passed.
“You know, 10 minutes in rugby is a long, long time and we were one score behind at that point so they are things we’ll definitely have to fix.
"But unfortunately as Pete (O'Mahony) said before the game, ‘there’s no tomorrow if we lose’ and there is no tomorrow and everything we look at now is for next season.
“That’s going to hurt, the next few days are going to hurt, that’s sport, we’re just going to have to get on with it.”
It was disappointing to have to hand back the title, not least as it had been claimed in far more adversarial circumstances last season.
Continued the skipper: "Look, yeah, we were underdogs the whole way through last season, which we relished for sure.
"This season, there was massive belief within the squad to go the whole way. At no point did anyone doubt that we weren't capable of it.
"We have been taking it one game at a time and not looking any further than our opposition in front of us, so I don't think that comes into question at any point.
"We have been very focused and very much looking forward to getting to play in front of a Munster crowd here. We are bitterly disappointed for everyone out there, all the fans that we weren't able to deliver a home final next week."
Munster's Jekyll and Hyde season continues; 'Mr Hyde' with just the one Champions Cup win and one draw from five outings, 'Dr Jekyll' as they put together 10 successive URC wins and finishing 'Mr Hyde' on Saturday with too many below par on the day.
There is enough to feel that the ten-game February-June winning run was positive, a platform to take to next season.
Added Beirne: "I think we have shown in the last two seasons what we can do and what we are capable of doing.
"I don't think we performed poorly today, we weren't clinical. I think at times we played well but definitely, the future is certainly bright. Hopefully we will be able to do it next year."
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