Munster through despite loss to 14-man Northampton

Munster are through to the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup, but it will be nothing to celebrate.

The URC champions progress to the knockout stages of the tournament courtesy of a losing bonus-point after a 26-23 defeat to the Northampton Saints, but major questions will have to be asked at how they let a promising lead slip for the third time in their four pool games.

FULL MATCH DETAILS

Everything looked like it was going according to plan for Graham Rowntree's side when Gavin Coombes bundled over for their third try of the game on 48 minutes, sending them 20-10 up against a Northampton team who were down to 14 players after the first-half red card of Curtis Langdon.

The hooker was given a straight red for a knee to the head of Tom Ahern, which had briefly reduced the Saints to 13 players due to George Furbank’s earlier sin-binning.

That unsaintly behaviour allowed Munster to hit two tries just before half-time, as they moved 15-7 ahead by the break courtesy of tries from Antoine Frisch and Peter O’Mahony.

Northampton, whose win sees them book a home Round of 16 tie, deserve huge credit for their second-half comeback, with the boot of Fin Smith keeping the scoreboard ticking over, before Sam Graham’s try with 10 minutes remaining saw them claim a famous Thomond Park win, and land a major blow to Munster, who will find out on Sunday evening where they will be travelling for the last-16 in April.

Depending on results elsewhere, it may see them away to Leinster.

The early stages were played largely in Munster's half, as the visitors enjoyed plenty of possession without ever really threatening.

In part it was down to an aggressive Munster defence. O’Mahony and Coombes combined for a big turnover on the edge of their own 22,