Munster's hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Champions Cup suffered a blow when the two-time champions lost 27-25 in a Pool 2 thriller at Toulon on Sunday.
Two penalties from Jack Crowley appeared to give Munster the upper hand in a tight first half until Toulon full-back Marius Domon sliced through from close range for the first try in the 39th minute, his conversion giving the French side a 7-6 lead at the break.
That try appeared to unlock the floodgates as the first 10 minutes of the second half produced three tries.
With Tadhg Beirne in the sin bin, Toulon struck again. A superb sustained period of phase play ended when Scotland scrum-half Ben White wriggled through a gap and dotted down under the posts.
Munster hit back immediately spinning the ball wide to wing Calvin Nash who went over.
That was followed by a fine solo effort from Toulon wing Gael Drean who chipped over the defence, collected on the bounce and skittered through for the try.
A penalty from Domon stretched the Toulon lead to 24-13 with 15 minutes remaining.
Back came the Munstermen with flanker Jack O'Donoghue going over in the corner while Toulon's Charles Ollivon was sent to the bin.
The conversion went wide but four minutes later the Irish were in front, another flowing move and change of direction teeing up Tom Farrell for the try.
This time Crowley found the conversion to make it 25-24 for Munster.
Four minutes from time, Toulon reclaimed the lead as Domon landed his second penalty.
A brave defensive stand at the death secures us the losing bonus point.
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) January 11, 2026
Not the result we wanted but thank you for your incredible support in the South of France this weekend. #SUAF đź”´ | #RCTvMUN pic.twitter.com/gCczgveLmS
The French side dominated the last couple of minutes but were unable to score a fourth try, missing out on what could be a crucial bonus point.
The Pool will come down to next week when Munster host Castres and Toulon travel to Gloucester. Bath and Edinburgh look certain to qualify but the other two spots are wide open.