LEINSTER AT THEIR best are an ultra-clinical side and that trait was to the fore as they left Thomond Park with a bonus-point win last night.
Munster had already blown a lineout in the Leinster 22 by the time Leo Cullen’s men had their first entry into Munster’s 22.
A clever bit of play between Luke McGrath and Jamie Osborne brought Leinster into Munster territory.
Osborne [red below] is in the shortside after featuring on the first phase of a scrum attack.
Garry Ringrose is in the process of making an efficient one-man clearout over wing Jimmy O’Brien as scrum-half McGrath approaches.
Blindside flanker Ryan Baird has also swung into the shortside, so Munster fold defenders to that side too.
But Osborne makes a late move infield to bring himself to McGrath’s outside shoulder.
As McGrath scoops the ball, he takes a couple of steps upfield to engage Munster’s Tadhg Beirne [yellow below], who nudges the referee out of the way, while fellow second row Fineen Wycherley is focused on the Leinster forwards wider out from the ruck [blue].
That means McGrath can hang the ball up for the late-arriving Osborne, who times his acceleration onto the ball ideally by slowing his feet as he swings behind the ruck.
Osborne can get the ball well beyond Beirne’s tackle as the Munster captain reacts and the Leinster fullback offloads back inside to the supporting McGrath for the linebreak.
There’s frustration for Leinster as they fail to finish on the next phase after McGrath is hauled down, with Robbie Henshaw’s pass to a two-man overlap floating forward, but they don’t leave Munster’s 22 without a score.
Their scrum wins a penalty, they go kick into the right corner, and get over the line.
Initially, Leinster go into the five-metre channel from a dummy maul but Shane Daly does well in defence as he tackles Rónan Kelleher. But Leinster keep the pressure on with their powerful ball-carrying.
This carry from Baird lays the platform for McGrath to snipe over. It might not seem like a massive gainline win but Baird’s ability to win the collision against Wycherely and Niall Scannell is crucial.
Baird picks a smart line between the Munster pair, who are aware of other possible carriers on either side of him and adjust late, with Baird’s power allowing him to win the contact.
Even though it’s only a matter of a metre, Baird is now in behind the Munster defence, so the defenders closest to the tackle are worried about not being able to fold to the far side of the tackle in time for the next phase.
That means Dian Blueler, Alex Kendellen, and Gavin Coombes all fold to the far side when one of them needs to fill in on the edge of the breakdown on the near side.
Advertisement
Munster overfold and McGrath is smart in recognising that as he picks to snipe over for the score.
Munster pile the pressure on in Leinster’s 22 for most of the next 10 minutes of the game but can’t find a way over the line.
There’s an excellent try-saving tackle by Osborne on Coombes, a big five-metre maul stop led by James Ryan, Caelan Doris, and Jack Boyle, penalty offences that lead to Tommy O’Brien’s yellow card, and a final try-saving tackle by Ringrose and Henshaw to hold Beirne up over the tryline.
Munster’s inability to finish is damaging as Leinster then go down the other end and score while O’Brien is still in the sin bin. A clever grubber kick by Prendergast puts them in position to build pressure on Munster.
Baird gets up in a one-man lift at the lineout to pressure Beirne in the air, meaning the Munster skipper has to bat the ball back towards scrum-half Ethan Coughlan, who collects on the bounce only to be driven over his own tryline by Kelleher, Ryan, and McCarthy.
Leinster turn the scrum into a penalty again and opt for a tap play that sees Kelleher and Rabah Slimani going close on the first two phases before more carrying in the tight.
Inside centre Henshaw [red above] joins the Leinster forwards for their sortie on the Munster line as the visitors do a good job of maintaining possible carriers on their feet on both sides of the rucks.
That means Munster centres Rory Scannell and Tom Farrell [yellow above] end up narrow to the ruck and despite not having a penalty advantage – usually the cue for teams to pass away from their forwards near the tryline – Leinster react well to pull the trigger.
Out-half Prendergast [blue below] swings from behind the ruck out to the right-hand side and calls for the pass from McGrath.
And though Farrell attempts to recover back out to tackle Prendergast, the Leinster out-half has enough pace to finish.
Prendergast initially holds the ball in two hands to ensure Munster wing Daly sits off him in case of the pass to Ringrose on his outside.
Prendergast accelerates into the space between Farrell and Daly before rounding under the posts to ensure it’s a 14-0 lead.
Munster are finally clinical early in the second half to score through Tom Ahern but Leinster quickly restore their 14-point advantage.
Again, the scrum is key to giving them the platform as Slimani, Kelleher, Andrew Porter and co. demolish the Munster pack.
This scrum penalty allows Prendergast to kick into the left corner and Leinster are ruthless once again, although this third try was certainly contentious.
Henshaw and Baird make the initial carries off the lineout, the latter getting his nose beyond the tackle again, before Ryan comes onto the ball.
What follows looks strange.
Bleuler chops in low on Ryan as Hodnett tackles up higher on the Leinster lock.
There’s initially a hint of a no-arms tackle by Bleuler but he finishes with a grasp of Ryan’s right leg, while Hodnett instantly looks to jackal as Ryan comes to ground before Hodnett then barges through on the counter-ruck.
Scannell and Coombes pile in behind Hodnett and it looks like Munster will win a turnover but Ryan, still holding the ball, offloads from the deck to McCarthy.
The offload from Ryan comes nearly seven seconds after he has been grounded by Munster and they react angrily in the instant, appealing for a penalty. Referee Sam Grove-White shouts, “Play on, play on.”
McCarthy carries for Leinster, Kelleher clears Farrell away to open some space, and Josh van der Flier snipes over on the inside of Bleuler after he folds.
Grove-White awards the try but Munster are loudly appealing about previous ruck when Ryan pops off the ground.
“Na, no,” says Grove-White but Munster captain Beirne understandably persists.
“We go through the ruck and then he pops it off the deck,” says Beirne.
“Listen to me,” responds Grove-White. “The first offence is the no clear release. I’m happy with the ruck. Back on your line.”
It seems that Grove-White feels Hodnett doesn’t release from the tackle on Ryan before competing in the breakdown. That’s an understandable interpretation but still, it surely shouldn’t mean an ensuing infringement by Ryan in playing the ball off the ground is allowed.
As Prendergast lines up the conversion, it seems that TMO Mike Adamson checks the incident in the background.
“Yeah, cheers,” we hear Grove-White say before he adds, “Thanks, Mike.”
Munster are left frustrated and confused by the decision, which interim head coach Ian Costello underlined after the game.
Ultimately, they will probably feel they needed to react better in the moment even if they felt play should have been stopped. And ultimately, Leinster took another chance from close range.
Cullen’s men sealed their bonus point in the 74th minute at the end of a sustained bout of pressure in Munster territory that began with McCarthy’s surge.
McCarthy fends Scannell before powering upfield, then replacement scrum-half Fintan Gunne make a good decision to go into the shortside where he draws Calvin Nash and releases Jimmy O’Brien.
It takes a few more passages of attack for Leinster to actually get over the line. Again, they score from a five-metre tap play.
Sub hooker Lee Barron makes a strong carry after tapping the ball and then Doris sums up his side’s physical superiority in this game by battering over for the fourth try.
Doris dominates the collision with Hodnett and Coombes before Porter and Cian Healy hammer on with the latch to ensure Doris can finish cleanly without any risk of being held up.
It’s a moment of pure power on a night when Leinster were close to their most ruthless.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
40 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Leinster's ruthless power and smarts pile the pain onto Munster
LEINSTER AT THEIR best are an ultra-clinical side and that trait was to the fore as they left Thomond Park with a bonus-point win last night.
Munster had already blown a lineout in the Leinster 22 by the time Leo Cullen’s men had their first entry into Munster’s 22.
A clever bit of play between Luke McGrath and Jamie Osborne brought Leinster into Munster territory.
Osborne [red below] is in the shortside after featuring on the first phase of a scrum attack.
Garry Ringrose is in the process of making an efficient one-man clearout over wing Jimmy O’Brien as scrum-half McGrath approaches.
Blindside flanker Ryan Baird has also swung into the shortside, so Munster fold defenders to that side too.
But Osborne makes a late move infield to bring himself to McGrath’s outside shoulder.
As McGrath scoops the ball, he takes a couple of steps upfield to engage Munster’s Tadhg Beirne [yellow below], who nudges the referee out of the way, while fellow second row Fineen Wycherley is focused on the Leinster forwards wider out from the ruck [blue].
That means McGrath can hang the ball up for the late-arriving Osborne, who times his acceleration onto the ball ideally by slowing his feet as he swings behind the ruck.
Osborne can get the ball well beyond Beirne’s tackle as the Munster captain reacts and the Leinster fullback offloads back inside to the supporting McGrath for the linebreak.
There’s frustration for Leinster as they fail to finish on the next phase after McGrath is hauled down, with Robbie Henshaw’s pass to a two-man overlap floating forward, but they don’t leave Munster’s 22 without a score.
Their scrum wins a penalty, they go kick into the right corner, and get over the line.
Initially, Leinster go into the five-metre channel from a dummy maul but Shane Daly does well in defence as he tackles Rónan Kelleher. But Leinster keep the pressure on with their powerful ball-carrying.
This carry from Baird lays the platform for McGrath to snipe over. It might not seem like a massive gainline win but Baird’s ability to win the collision against Wycherely and Niall Scannell is crucial.
Baird picks a smart line between the Munster pair, who are aware of other possible carriers on either side of him and adjust late, with Baird’s power allowing him to win the contact.
Even though it’s only a matter of a metre, Baird is now in behind the Munster defence, so the defenders closest to the tackle are worried about not being able to fold to the far side of the tackle in time for the next phase.
That means Dian Blueler, Alex Kendellen, and Gavin Coombes all fold to the far side when one of them needs to fill in on the edge of the breakdown on the near side.
Munster overfold and McGrath is smart in recognising that as he picks to snipe over for the score.
Munster pile the pressure on in Leinster’s 22 for most of the next 10 minutes of the game but can’t find a way over the line.
There’s an excellent try-saving tackle by Osborne on Coombes, a big five-metre maul stop led by James Ryan, Caelan Doris, and Jack Boyle, penalty offences that lead to Tommy O’Brien’s yellow card, and a final try-saving tackle by Ringrose and Henshaw to hold Beirne up over the tryline.
Munster’s inability to finish is damaging as Leinster then go down the other end and score while O’Brien is still in the sin bin. A clever grubber kick by Prendergast puts them in position to build pressure on Munster.
Baird gets up in a one-man lift at the lineout to pressure Beirne in the air, meaning the Munster skipper has to bat the ball back towards scrum-half Ethan Coughlan, who collects on the bounce only to be driven over his own tryline by Kelleher, Ryan, and McCarthy.
Leinster turn the scrum into a penalty again and opt for a tap play that sees Kelleher and Rabah Slimani going close on the first two phases before more carrying in the tight.
Inside centre Henshaw [red above] joins the Leinster forwards for their sortie on the Munster line as the visitors do a good job of maintaining possible carriers on their feet on both sides of the rucks.
That means Munster centres Rory Scannell and Tom Farrell [yellow above] end up narrow to the ruck and despite not having a penalty advantage – usually the cue for teams to pass away from their forwards near the tryline – Leinster react well to pull the trigger.
Out-half Prendergast [blue below] swings from behind the ruck out to the right-hand side and calls for the pass from McGrath.
And though Farrell attempts to recover back out to tackle Prendergast, the Leinster out-half has enough pace to finish.
Prendergast initially holds the ball in two hands to ensure Munster wing Daly sits off him in case of the pass to Ringrose on his outside.
Prendergast accelerates into the space between Farrell and Daly before rounding under the posts to ensure it’s a 14-0 lead.
Munster are finally clinical early in the second half to score through Tom Ahern but Leinster quickly restore their 14-point advantage.
Again, the scrum is key to giving them the platform as Slimani, Kelleher, Andrew Porter and co. demolish the Munster pack.
This scrum penalty allows Prendergast to kick into the left corner and Leinster are ruthless once again, although this third try was certainly contentious.
Henshaw and Baird make the initial carries off the lineout, the latter getting his nose beyond the tackle again, before Ryan comes onto the ball.
What follows looks strange.
Bleuler chops in low on Ryan as Hodnett tackles up higher on the Leinster lock.
There’s initially a hint of a no-arms tackle by Bleuler but he finishes with a grasp of Ryan’s right leg, while Hodnett instantly looks to jackal as Ryan comes to ground before Hodnett then barges through on the counter-ruck.
Scannell and Coombes pile in behind Hodnett and it looks like Munster will win a turnover but Ryan, still holding the ball, offloads from the deck to McCarthy.
The offload from Ryan comes nearly seven seconds after he has been grounded by Munster and they react angrily in the instant, appealing for a penalty. Referee Sam Grove-White shouts, “Play on, play on.”
McCarthy carries for Leinster, Kelleher clears Farrell away to open some space, and Josh van der Flier snipes over on the inside of Bleuler after he folds.
Grove-White awards the try but Munster are loudly appealing about previous ruck when Ryan pops off the ground.
“Na, no,” says Grove-White but Munster captain Beirne understandably persists.
“We go through the ruck and then he pops it off the deck,” says Beirne.
“Listen to me,” responds Grove-White. “The first offence is the no clear release. I’m happy with the ruck. Back on your line.”
It seems that Grove-White feels Hodnett doesn’t release from the tackle on Ryan before competing in the breakdown. That’s an understandable interpretation but still, it surely shouldn’t mean an ensuing infringement by Ryan in playing the ball off the ground is allowed.
As Prendergast lines up the conversion, it seems that TMO Mike Adamson checks the incident in the background.
“Yeah, cheers,” we hear Grove-White say before he adds, “Thanks, Mike.”
Munster are left frustrated and confused by the decision, which interim head coach Ian Costello underlined after the game.
Ultimately, they will probably feel they needed to react better in the moment even if they felt play should have been stopped. And ultimately, Leinster took another chance from close range.
Cullen’s men sealed their bonus point in the 74th minute at the end of a sustained bout of pressure in Munster territory that began with McCarthy’s surge.
McCarthy fends Scannell before powering upfield, then replacement scrum-half Fintan Gunne make a good decision to go into the shortside where he draws Calvin Nash and releases Jimmy O’Brien.
It takes a few more passages of attack for Leinster to actually get over the line. Again, they score from a five-metre tap play.
Sub hooker Lee Barron makes a strong carry after tapping the ball and then Doris sums up his side’s physical superiority in this game by battering over for the fourth try.
Doris dominates the collision with Hodnett and Coombes before Porter and Cian Healy hammer on with the latch to ensure Doris can finish cleanly without any risk of being held up.
It’s a moment of pure power on a night when Leinster were close to their most ruthless.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Analysis Leinster Munster URC