Munster rally to see off Exeter and reach quarter final

We've seen this movie before, but we still get sucked in.

Thomond Park, backs to the wall, win or bust, a hefty injury list and a Premiership heavyweight in town.

It's never easy with Munster, but then again it's never dull.

Almost all of Europe's big-hitters have suffered this fate, and today it was the turn of the Exeter Chiefs.

Having come into the second leg of this Heineken Champions Cup last 16 tie lucky to be just five points down, Munster needed to pull another one out of the bag. And as they usually do at Thomond Park in the Champions Cup, they proved the doubters wrong.

Peter O'Mahony was sorely missed at Sandy Park a week ago, and on his return today he produced one of his finest performances in Munster red.

And while the captain claimed the Player of the Match award, his out-half Joey Carbery drove the attack.

He scored Munster's opening 19 points to keep their heads above water, and after Damien de Allende's gorgeous try on 74 minutes all but sealed the win, the out-half landed his sixth kick from six attempts, sealing a 26-10 win on the day, and a 34-23 aggregate victory.

It was a game of unbearable tension, a result of the new home-and-away dynamic in the last 16, and while it looked like Exeter were beginning to gain steam early in the second half, they were no match for a relentlessly determined Munster down the stretch.

The 2020 champions brought a five point lead to Limerick after last week's first leg in Devon, but within five minutes Munster had pegged the aggregate deficit back to two when Carbery kicked a penalty from 30 metres.

It gave the home side a 3-0 lead on the day, after some fine work at the breakdown from John Hodnett.

But Exeter landed the first real blow in the 11th minute when Sam Maunder's