The bounce of a rugby ball can change everything, as Munster found to their cost in Devon. One minute the Irish province were looking in absolute command of a Champions Cup fixture they badly needed to win, the next they were heading home seriously downcast after a game transformed by another remarkable late surge from a re-energised young Chiefs team still unbeaten in Pool Three.
When Munster led 24-13 entering the final quarter they seemed all but safe, only for Exeter’s bench to replicate the Houdini act they performed in Toulon in the opening round. First the back-row forward Ross Vintcent stretched over for a close-range try to reignite the contest and then, a couple of minutes later, the replacement scrum-half Stu Townsend lobbed a hopeful box kick into space on the edge of the Munster 22.
