European Rugby Champions Cup: CJ Stander try earns Munster draw at Exeter

Luke Cowan-Dickie's try and Exeter's steadfast defence were almost the difference at Sandy Park

CJ Stander's try earned Munster a 10-10 Champions Cup draw against Exeter after it seemed the hosts' resolute defence would hold out at a windy Sandy Park.

The Chiefs made 116 tackles in the first half - twice as many as their opponents - and made the most of a rare foray into the Munster 22 when Luke Cowan-Dickie went over to score.

Munster persevered and finally broke through when Stander powered over.

Exeter came close to scoring late on, but broke down in the 22nd phase.

Munster pressure eventually pays off

It was a pulsating end to the match which was a scrappy affair in the first 40 minutes.

The sides only had a penalty each to show for their efforts in that period until Cornish hooker Cowan-Dickie applied the finishing touch to great forward play, two minutes before the break.

There was renewed pressure from the two-time champions straight after the restart. A huge drive from the maul in the 53rd minute should have resulted in a try, but once again Exeter dealt with the threat.

The Red Army went for the jugular again, but this time full-back Phil Dollman produced a superb tackle to stop Michael Haley, who was looking to offload for an almost certain try.

The visitors finally made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute. First, replacements Tommy O'Donnell and Rhys Marshall each had a go at breaking through the final line of defence, before the ball made its way left to Stander, who found the extra metre.

Exeter fall short in final seconds

Chiefs' Dave Ewers and team-mate Sam Skinner suffered an accidental clash of heads in the build-up to the try and both needed an immediate head injury assessment (HIA).

Munster were hoping to apply late pressure in the final seconds, but Joey Carbery's kick landed long in the strong wind which earned Exeter a scrum 22 metres from the opposition try-line.

The Chiefs kept the play alive past the allotted 80 minutes, before a forward ball in the 22nd phase of play saw their hopes of a win disappear.

'Munster will be happier with the draw'

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter: "At half-time I would have been happy with two points, but at the end with a couple of dominant scrums I thought we missed an opportunity to nick it.

"However, we've got two points and there are a lot of teams who won't have two points on the board after the first round. Munster will be the happier with two points away from home."

Munster head coach Johann Van Graan: "Nobody gave us a chance so I'm incredibly proud of the performance. We had chances to win it but so did they.

"They are a very difficult side to play against as they have a great ability to retain possession."

Exeter: Dollman; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, Cordero; Steenson (c), Townsend; Moon, Cowan-Dickie, Williams; Dennis, Skinner; Ewers, Armand, Kvesic.

Replacements: Yeandle, Hepburn, Francis, Atkins, Lawday, Maunder, Simmonds, Hill.

Munster: Haley; Conway, Goggin, R Scannell, Earls; Carbery, Williams; Kilcoyne, N Scannell, Archer; Kleyn, Beirne; O'Mahony (c), Cloete, Stander.

Replacements: Marshall, J Cronin, Ryan, Holland, O'Donnell, N Cronin, JJ Hanrahan, Arnold.

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