One of the few positives Leicester could take from their latest European defeat was that Manu Tuilagi completed 80 minutes on his return from injury.
The centre came through unscathed but his side ended the year bottom of Pool Four after an ill-disciplined showing against Munster.
Head coach Matt O’Connor has given up hope of unlikely progression to the quarter-final – although he hopes Tuilagi can now breathe life into the club’s Premiership campaign.
Manu Tuilagi was unable to inspire his Leicester team-mates on his return to action
CJ Stander scored Munster’s only try to secure a 25-16 Champions Cup victory
Matt O’Connor’s Tigers’ European journey came to end on Sunday with their third defeat
‘To come off the back of a significant layoff and put in an 80-minute performance is exceptional,’ said O’Connor. ‘He was blowing quite hard but he’s a fantastic pro. He’ll get better and better every time he plays.’
The Tigers statisticians will have nightmares about their first-half performance.
The hosts had just 25 per cent of the territory, 37% possession and, most significantly, conceded a penalty every three and a half minutes. Ian Keatley took full advantage, converting four out of five kicks to give Munster a two-point lead at the break.
No Leicester side has lost back-to-back games in rounds three and four since 1999 and Tom Youngs led his side out with intent. Hits flew in from all angles but they wasted energy and made three times as many tackles as their opponents early on.
Despite the defeat, O’Connor described Tuilagi’s return from injury as ‘exceptional’
Matthew Tait scored the Tigers’ solitary try with his first in 27 competitive games
Scoring opportunities were scarce as George Ford and Keatley exchanged early penalties.
Matthew Tait scored his first try in 27 games from a slick lineout move, but Leicester’s discipline quickly unravelled.
Dan Cole was penalised for not rolling away – one of five first-half penalties for the prop – and Keatley moved his side ahead with three unanswered kicks.
Cole was eventually sin-binned by Mathieu Raynal and Munster capitalised early in the second half. Peter O’Mahony stole a lineout, allowing Conor Murray to cut through the defence with ease, with fellow Lion CJ Stander bunding over from close range.
Ian Keatley took advantage of sloppy Tigers by converting four out of five kicks in the first half
Tuilagi was unable to inspire a comeback, despite becoming more prominent in the final third.
He carried with trademark power as Ford edged Tigers back into the game with the boot, but the hosts did not capitalise on their advantage when prop John Ryan was shown a yellow card.
Instead, it was Munster who seized the initiative, with Keatley putting the boot into Leicester’s European ambitions.
‘We thought we could realistically get out of this group but you need to produce in every game,’ said O’Connor. ‘It’s near impossible to go through now.