Pics & Reaction: Guinness PRO12 Final

A 22-46 defeat to Scarlets was certainly not how Munster wanted to finish off what has been an unforgettable season.  Yet Rassie Erasmus and his charges take solace from the massive strides made in the last nine months as they continue to grow and evolve as a squad.

Click here to view our Guinness PRO12 Final photo gallery.

Simon Zebo commented, “We’re not there yet and we don’t make any bones about that. We know we’re not good enough at the moment but a lot of strides have been taken to get to where we are.

“Last year, we were pushing for top six and this season we made the semi-finals in Europe and PRO12 and now a final.

“Scarlets attacked us, it was the same as Glasgow in the final a couple of years ago. They attacked us from the get-go, we didn’t.  We didn’t have the balls to do it, fair play to them they did and they won. But we’re going in the right direction.

“We just need to kick on and develop our game so we’re good enough to win semi-finals and finals in years to come.”

CJ Stander added that Munster can take a lot of confidence from what they have achieved this season, “It’ll make it a bit to easier to move on from this loss, knowing where we were last year, battling it out for sixth place.  Hopefully this can push us on to greater heights one day.

“There’s a lot of positives to take out of this whole season, everyone backed each other up and it’s great to see that even after a 22-46 loss that the supporters stayed around to cheer us on.

“That’s unbelievable, what we get, and that’s what we work for. It’s a good connection that hopefully we can push on for next year.”

Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus and captain Peter O’Mahony attended the post-match press conference.