Good evening, and welcome along to our live coverage of this inter-provincial showdown at a sold-out Croke Park.
It’s Leinster versus Munster in the United Rugby Championship.
Kick-off is 5.45pm, with the action available to watch on RTÉ and Premier Sports.
But we’ll keep you updated right here. Get involved!
12 Oct
5:21PM
Team News
The teams, as announced yesterday, are listed below. Ciarán Frawley is at 10 for Leinster, Alex Nankivell returns for Munster and there are lots of other interesting lines in there.
Leinster
15. Hugo Keenan
14. Liam Turner
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Jamie Osborne
11. James Lowe
10. Ciarán Frawley
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter
2. Lee Barron
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. RG Snyman
5. James Ryan
6. Jack Conan
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Caelan Doris (captain)
Replacements:
16. Gus McCarthy
17. Cian Healy
18. Thomas Clarkson
19. Ryan Baird
20. Max Deegan
21. Luke McGrath
22. Ross Byrne
23. Harry Byrne
Munster
15. Mike Haley
14. Calvin Nash
13. Tom Farrell
12. Alex Nankivell
11. Seán O’Brien
10. Jack Crowley
9. Craig Casey
1. Jeremy Loughman
2. Niall Scannell
3. Stephen Archer
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Tadhg Beirne (captain)
6. Jack O’Donoghue
7. John Hodnett
8. Gavin Coombes
Replacements:
16. Diarmuid Barron
17. Kieran Ryan
18. John Ryan
19. Tom Ahern
20. Ruadhán Quinn
21. Conor Murray
22. Tony Butler
23. Shay McCarthy
Referee: Chris Busby [IRFU].
12 Oct
5:26PM
“Frawls has been good,” Leo Cullen tells RTÉ pre-match, speaking about Ciarán Frawley at out-half.
“He’s come out and said he want to play 10. I thought it was a good positive first half last week, Frawls gets another opportunity today and hopefully it goes well.”
He also mentions RG Snyman “playing with a smile on his face” and hails the historic occasion at Croke Park.
“It’s been a remarkable couple of weeks, the build-up to this game. It’s amazing really, such an iconic venue and you see the blue and the red. It’s a fantastic occasion.”
12 Oct
5:29PM
Graham Rowntree, meanwhile, is walking around the Croke Park pitch offering his pre-match thoughts. He calls GAA HQ a “cathedral of rugby,” detailing his first experience of the venue and his players bringing footballs and hurleys to Captain’s Day on Friday.
“The highs and lows, that’s a season. You’ve got to roll with the punches,” Rowntree adds on Munster’s lengthy injury list, while he also addresses the importance of the scrum.
Donncha O’Callaghan is adamant Munster have to make this a “set-piece battle” if they are to succeed this evening.
WITH APOLOGIES TO the good people of Inchicore, who recently had their homeplace named one of the “coolest neighbourhoods on the planet” by Time Out magazine, if you’re in Dublin today then Drumcondra is the only place to be.
Over 82,000 rugby fans, no doubt including a few bandwagoners, will descend on Croke Park this evening to take in the latest installment of the Leinster-Munster rivalry on what is set to be a fresh, largely dry in Dublin.
Donncha O’Callaghan: “You grow up dreaming of playing [GAA] in Croke Park. And if you’re not good enough, you play rugby.”
12 Oct
5:45PM
“Leinster, Leinster” rings out around the stadium just before the teams walk out. Here they come!
12 Oct
5:46PM
And we’re off! Leinster get us underway.
12 Oct
5:48PM
Leinster 0-0 Munster
2 mins – First penalty goes to Munster as Mike Haley is hit in the air from kick-off. Jack Crowley finds touch, and they win their first line-out. Nice early attacking platform.
12 Oct
5:51PM
Leinster 0-0 Munster
4 mins – Munster work it across the pitch, but Leinster keep them at bay. A kicking over-and-back ensues, some groans about Hugo Keenan claiming the first one outside the ’22 but on we go…
12 Oct
5:52PM
Leinster 0-0 Munster
5 mins – Leinster win their first two line-outs, Snyman with some superb takes against his former side. Munster have had a decent start but Leinster look like they might wipe that out with the first try of the evening…
12 Oct
5:53PM
Leinster 5-0 Munster (Lowe, 6)
TRY FOR LEINSTER! James Lowe goes over out wide after Leinster threaten from the line-out. Some brilliant play in the final phases: a lovely offload from Jamie Osborne, and Jamison Gibson-Park’s vision to find Lowe, to name just two examples.
12 Oct
5:54PM
Leinster 7-0 Munster
7 mins – Ciarán Frawley adds the extras from a difficult angle.
12 Oct
5:59PM
Leinster 12-0 Munster (Doris, 11)
TRY FOR LEINSTER! Doris is on the scoresheet after a TMO check. He transferred the ball from one hand to the other as he went down outside the post, and the check was to make sure there was no knock-on. Leinster had Munster under the cosh again, some smart thinking from Lowe to tap-and-go in the build-up and Leo Cullen’s men have their second try of the evening.
12 Oct
5:59PM
Leinster 14-0 Munster
12 mins – Frawley converts.
12 Oct
6:03PM
Leinster 19-0 Munster (Keenan, 15)
TRY FOR LEINSTER! A third already! All came from a jackal penalty Doris won after Crowley collected a chipped ball from Lowe. Leinster went to the corner, drive from the line-out and Keenan crosses under the posts.
12 Oct
6:04PM
Leinster 21-0 Munster
16 mins – Frawley with another straightforward conversion.
12 Oct
6:07PM
Leinster 21-0 Munster
18 mins – Jack Crowley’s penalty ricochets off the post, that sums up their frustrating start.
12 Oct
6:09PM
Leinster 21-0 Munster
22 mins – Munster win another penalty at the breakdown, Crowley kicks to the corner as they go in the hunt. Same eventually happens on the other side, after some interesting words between the referee and Tadhg Beirne — “I want to work with you, but this relationship isn’t working,” the Munster captain is told.
Line-out lost, Leinster clear their lines, no points from the latest Munster visit to their 22.
12 Oct
6:13PM
Leinster 21-0 Munster
24 mins – Great passage of play from Munster as they break up the field, Leinster’s scramble defence recovers and a handling error lets the trailing team down. Opportunity remains though, they really need to get off the mark.
12 Oct
6:14PM
Leinster 21-0 Munster
26 mins – Calvin Nash was over there, but the whistle had gone for a forward pass! Nankivell had played the ball, RTÉ saying it was “tight” and “marginal”. Leinster win the scrum and clear their lines to big celebrations.
12 Oct
6:20PM
Leinster 21-0 Munster
27 mins – It has been absolutely frantic, so haven’t had the chance to bring you some changes. The scoreboard wasn’t Munster’s only worry: they were without Loughman and Scannell for different periods, but all have returned. Max Deegan replaced Jack Conan for Leinster at one stage, too.
32 mins – Finally, Munster get a couple of breaks. First, they steal a line-out, and then they win a penalty off a scrum. Could they open their account?
12 Oct
6:24PM
Leinster 21-0 Munster
33 mins – Not yet, anyway. Gibson-Park attempts to intercept the last pass out wide, but knocks on. Scrum time.
12 Oct
6:26PM
Leinster 21-5 Munster (O’Brien, 34)
TRY FOR MUNSTER! Graham Rowntree’s men win a scrum penalty, go to the corner, and fine joy off the line-out. Seán O’Brien spots a gap, squeezes through it and crashes over. Crowley missed the conversion, which was fairly straightforward, but they are up and running.
TRY FOR LEINSTER! RG Snyman against his former side on the stroke of half time.
Nankivell and Scannell concede back-to-back penalties within five metres. Handy points for Leinster under the points, but they go for the jugular. Two tap-and-gos, with Snyman eventually powering over to cap a brilliant first half for Leo Cullen’s men.
12 Oct
6:34PM
HT: Leinster 26-5 Munster
Frawley misses his first kick of the evening, and that’s that for the first half.
Four tries for Leinster, bonus point wrapped up at the break. What did you make of it?
Change: Gus McCarthy replaces Barron at hooker for Leinster.
12 Oct
6:50PM
Leinster 26-5 Munster
43 mins – Munster come away from the Leinster 22 empty-handed yet again. Doris turns over at the breakdown and Crowley knocks on. Can they make a good start here and mount a challenge?
47 mins – It’s been a stop-start opening to the second half. Munster had been desperately trying to respond, but were error-ridden, from loose basses to the line-out.
12 Oct
6:59PM
Leinster 26-5 Munster
50 mins – Tom Ahern in for Klein. RJ Snyman comes off to a loud reception – cheers, boos, the lot. He’s replaced by Ryan Baird.
“Leinster have been so disruptive,” Murray Kinsella says on RTÉ.
12 Oct
7:02PM
Leinster 26-5 Munster
52 mins – Baird gone straight back off for a HIA, Thomas Clarkson in. John Ryan returns for Loughman, who is bleeding heavily.
12 Oct
7:05PM
Leinster 26-5 Munster
54 mins – There has been some action through the changes. Munster were desperately trying to make something happen, Leinster got back on the front foot and looked threatening, but Andrew Porter dropped the ball. Craig Casey opts for the scrum. Quinn on for Coombs.
58 mins - Leinster pinged in the scrum, Crowley goes up the line with the penalty and Munster gain momentum after a brilliant Farrell break. They’re cheered on as they go close, but it all breaks down with a “forward pass”. Opportunity remains, however, as it came off a Leinster hand. We go again with the scrum.
12 Oct
7:15PM
Leinster 26-5 Munster
61 mins – Blow for Munster, boost for Leinster as they’re turned over once more. “Story of the game,” as Murray Kinsella puts it. Monstrous tackle by Osborne on Nankivell as he drives the Munster man back and the Leinster counter-ruck win a penalty to rapturous celebrations.
Some changes: Conor Murray in for Casey. Coombes back, Hodnett requires a HIA. I could be missing some others…
12 Oct
7:16PM
Leinster 26-5 Munster
63 mins – Huge play from Haley as he denies Lowe smelling blood in a footrace. It was a brilliant ball from Gibson-Park, but Munster did enough to keep Leinster at bay. Scoreless in the second half, so far.
12 Oct
7:19PM
Leinster 26-5 Munster
64 mins – Beirne wins a penalty at the breakdown. Good work from Leinster duo Osborne and Frawley, but they’re penalised for not releasing.
Big reception as Cian Healy replaces Furlong.
12 Oct
7:19PM
Leinster 26-10 Munster (Haley, 66)
TRY FOR MUNSTER! A big moment for the southern province, practically out of nowhere. Coombes with a superb kick, Haley wins the footrace and touches down. Conor Murray with a big break just beforehand. They needed this.
70 mins - Plenty of changes as we enter the final 10 minutes. Byrne for Turner, McGrath for Gibson-Park on the Leinster side, while Hodnett and Coombes switch for Munster.
Munster are on the counter here as they look to finish strong.
12 Oct
7:27PM
Leinster 26-12 Munster
73 mins – Leinster win a penalty around halfway as Munster counter, Doris and JVDF key. Ross Byrne is going for the posts after a debate on what to do…
12 Oct
7:27PM
Leinster 26-12 Munster
73 mins – Byrne’s kick tails to the left and wide.
12 Oct
7:28PM
The attendance of 80,468 at Croke Park is a new URC record.
12 Oct
7:31PM
Leinster 26-12 Munster
76 mins – Leinster miss another penalty shot at the posts, this time it’s Frawley and he hist the post. Still no score for Leinster in the second half.
John Ryan off for a HIA, Butler replaces Farrell, Harry Byrne on for Lowe.
12 Oct
7:32PM
Caelan Doris announced as Player of the Match. What a shift from the Leinster captain.
12 Oct
7:35PM
Leinster 26-12 Munster
79 mins – Munster haven’t given up through a see-saw ending as the game peters out. Full-time imminent.
That’s that from the big URC showdown at Croke Park. “An enjoyable one,” Doris says as his Leinster side run out 26-12 winners. They scored four tries in a superb first half and their defence was incredible impressive in the second. Munster bounced back and showed glimpses, but the result was never really in doubt.
An interesting game at Croke Park, and a brilliant occasion overall.
12 Oct
7:44PM
Ciarán Kennedy was at Croke Park for us and his report will be on The 42 imminently, along with the usual reaction, analysis and colour.
Elsewhere in the URC, kick-off is nearing for Ulster and Connacht. Sinéad Farrell is live-blogging that one for us, while Declan Bogue is at Kingspan Stadium.
That’s all from me, thanks for reading and enjoy your evening!
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As it happened: Leinster v Munster, United Rugby Championship
Good evening, and welcome along to our live coverage of this inter-provincial showdown at a sold-out Croke Park.
It’s Leinster versus Munster in the United Rugby Championship.
Kick-off is 5.45pm, with the action available to watch on RTÉ and Premier Sports.
But we’ll keep you updated right here. Get involved!
Team News
The teams, as announced yesterday, are listed below. Ciarán Frawley is at 10 for Leinster, Alex Nankivell returns for Munster and there are lots of other interesting lines in there.
Leinster
Replacements:
Munster
Replacements:
Referee: Chris Busby [IRFU].
“Frawls has been good,” Leo Cullen tells RTÉ pre-match, speaking about Ciarán Frawley at out-half.
“He’s come out and said he want to play 10. I thought it was a good positive first half last week, Frawls gets another opportunity today and hopefully it goes well.”
He also mentions RG Snyman “playing with a smile on his face” and hails the historic occasion at Croke Park.
“It’s been a remarkable couple of weeks, the build-up to this game. It’s amazing really, such an iconic venue and you see the blue and the red. It’s a fantastic occasion.”
Graham Rowntree, meanwhile, is walking around the Croke Park pitch offering his pre-match thoughts. He calls GAA HQ a “cathedral of rugby,” detailing his first experience of the venue and his players bringing footballs and hurleys to Captain’s Day on Friday.
“The highs and lows, that’s a season. You’ve got to roll with the punches,” Rowntree adds on Munster’s lengthy injury list, while he also addresses the importance of the scrum.
Donncha O’Callaghan is adamant Munster have to make this a “set-piece battle” if they are to succeed this evening.
WITH APOLOGIES TO the good people of Inchicore, who recently had their homeplace named one of the “coolest neighbourhoods on the planet” by Time Out magazine, if you’re in Dublin today then Drumcondra is the only place to be.
Over 82,000 rugby fans, no doubt including a few bandwagoners, will descend on Croke Park this evening to take in the latest installment of the Leinster-Munster rivalry on what is set to be a fresh, largely dry in Dublin.
Five minutes to go. Time to call it.
Poll Results:
Donncha O’Callaghan: “You grow up dreaming of playing [GAA] in Croke Park. And if you’re not good enough, you play rugby.”
“Leinster, Leinster” rings out around the stadium just before the teams walk out. Here they come!
And we’re off! Leinster get us underway.
Leinster 0-0 Munster
2 mins – First penalty goes to Munster as Mike Haley is hit in the air from kick-off. Jack Crowley finds touch, and they win their first line-out. Nice early attacking platform.
Leinster 0-0 Munster
4 mins – Munster work it across the pitch, but Leinster keep them at bay. A kicking over-and-back ensues, some groans about Hugo Keenan claiming the first one outside the ’22 but on we go…
Leinster 0-0 Munster
5 mins – Leinster win their first two line-outs, Snyman with some superb takes against his former side. Munster have had a decent start but Leinster look like they might wipe that out with the first try of the evening…
Leinster 5-0 Munster (Lowe, 6)
TRY FOR LEINSTER! James Lowe goes over out wide after Leinster threaten from the line-out. Some brilliant play in the final phases: a lovely offload from Jamie Osborne, and Jamison Gibson-Park’s vision to find Lowe, to name just two examples.
Leinster 7-0 Munster
7 mins – Ciarán Frawley adds the extras from a difficult angle.
Leinster 12-0 Munster (Doris, 11)
TRY FOR LEINSTER! Doris is on the scoresheet after a TMO check. He transferred the ball from one hand to the other as he went down outside the post, and the check was to make sure there was no knock-on. Leinster had Munster under the cosh again, some smart thinking from Lowe to tap-and-go in the build-up and Leo Cullen’s men have their second try of the evening.
Leinster 14-0 Munster
12 mins – Frawley converts.
Leinster 19-0 Munster (Keenan, 15)
TRY FOR LEINSTER! A third already! All came from a jackal penalty Doris won after Crowley collected a chipped ball from Lowe. Leinster went to the corner, drive from the line-out and Keenan crosses under the posts.
Leinster 21-0 Munster
16 mins – Frawley with another straightforward conversion.
Leinster 21-0 Munster
18 mins – Jack Crowley’s penalty ricochets off the post, that sums up their frustrating start.
Leinster 21-0 Munster
22 mins – Munster win another penalty at the breakdown, Crowley kicks to the corner as they go in the hunt. Same eventually happens on the other side, after some interesting words between the referee and Tadhg Beirne — “I want to work with you, but this relationship isn’t working,” the Munster captain is told.
Line-out lost, Leinster clear their lines, no points from the latest Munster visit to their 22.
Leinster 21-0 Munster
24 mins – Great passage of play from Munster as they break up the field, Leinster’s scramble defence recovers and a handling error lets the trailing team down. Opportunity remains though, they really need to get off the mark.
Leinster 21-0 Munster
26 mins – Calvin Nash was over there, but the whistle had gone for a forward pass! Nankivell had played the ball, RTÉ saying it was “tight” and “marginal”. Leinster win the scrum and clear their lines to big celebrations.
Leinster 21-0 Munster
27 mins – It has been absolutely frantic, so haven’t had the chance to bring you some changes. The scoreboard wasn’t Munster’s only worry: they were without Loughman and Scannell for different periods, but all have returned. Max Deegan replaced Jack Conan for Leinster at one stage, too.
Here are the three Leinster tries:
Leinster 21-0 Munster
32 mins – Finally, Munster get a couple of breaks. First, they steal a line-out, and then they win a penalty off a scrum. Could they open their account?
Leinster 21-0 Munster
33 mins – Not yet, anyway. Gibson-Park attempts to intercept the last pass out wide, but knocks on. Scrum time.
Leinster 21-5 Munster (O’Brien, 34)
TRY FOR MUNSTER! Graham Rowntree’s men win a scrum penalty, go to the corner, and fine joy off the line-out. Seán O’Brien spots a gap, squeezes through it and crashes over. Crowley missed the conversion, which was fairly straightforward, but they are up and running.
Leinster 26-5 Munster (Snyman, 40)
TRY FOR LEINSTER! RG Snyman against his former side on the stroke of half time.
Nankivell and Scannell concede back-to-back penalties within five metres. Handy points for Leinster under the points, but they go for the jugular. Two tap-and-gos, with Snyman eventually powering over to cap a brilliant first half for Leo Cullen’s men.
HT: Leinster 26-5 Munster
Frawley misses his first kick of the evening, and that’s that for the first half.
Four tries for Leinster, bonus point wrapped up at the break. What did you make of it?
Here’s that Snyman try:
Leinster 26-5 Munster
SECOND HALF: We’re back underway.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
Change: Gus McCarthy replaces Barron at hooker for Leinster.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
43 mins – Munster come away from the Leinster 22 empty-handed yet again. Doris turns over at the breakdown and Crowley knocks on. Can they make a good start here and mount a challenge?
Leinster 26-5 Munster
47 mins – It’s been a stop-start opening to the second half. Munster had been desperately trying to respond, but were error-ridden, from loose basses to the line-out.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
50 mins – Tom Ahern in for Klein. RJ Snyman comes off to a loud reception – cheers, boos, the lot. He’s replaced by Ryan Baird.
“Leinster have been so disruptive,” Murray Kinsella says on RTÉ.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
52 mins – Baird gone straight back off for a HIA, Thomas Clarkson in. John Ryan returns for Loughman, who is bleeding heavily.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
54 mins – There has been some action through the changes. Munster were desperately trying to make something happen, Leinster got back on the front foot and looked threatening, but Andrew Porter dropped the ball. Craig Casey opts for the scrum. Quinn on for Coombs.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
58 mins - Leinster pinged in the scrum, Crowley goes up the line with the penalty and Munster gain momentum after a brilliant Farrell break. They’re cheered on as they go close, but it all breaks down with a “forward pass”. Opportunity remains, however, as it came off a Leinster hand. We go again with the scrum.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
61 mins – Blow for Munster, boost for Leinster as they’re turned over once more. “Story of the game,” as Murray Kinsella puts it. Monstrous tackle by Osborne on Nankivell as he drives the Munster man back and the Leinster counter-ruck win a penalty to rapturous celebrations.
Some changes: Conor Murray in for Casey. Coombes back, Hodnett requires a HIA. I could be missing some others…
Leinster 26-5 Munster
63 mins – Huge play from Haley as he denies Lowe smelling blood in a footrace. It was a brilliant ball from Gibson-Park, but Munster did enough to keep Leinster at bay. Scoreless in the second half, so far.
Leinster 26-5 Munster
64 mins – Beirne wins a penalty at the breakdown. Good work from Leinster duo Osborne and Frawley, but they’re penalised for not releasing.
Big reception as Cian Healy replaces Furlong.
Leinster 26-10 Munster (Haley, 66)
TRY FOR MUNSTER! A big moment for the southern province, practically out of nowhere. Coombes with a superb kick, Haley wins the footrace and touches down. Conor Murray with a big break just beforehand. They needed this.
Leinster 26-12 Munster
69 mins – Extras added.
Leinster 26-12 Munster
70 mins - Plenty of changes as we enter the final 10 minutes. Byrne for Turner, McGrath for Gibson-Park on the Leinster side, while Hodnett and Coombes switch for Munster.
Munster are on the counter here as they look to finish strong.
Leinster 26-12 Munster
73 mins – Leinster win a penalty around halfway as Munster counter, Doris and JVDF key. Ross Byrne is going for the posts after a debate on what to do…
Leinster 26-12 Munster
73 mins – Byrne’s kick tails to the left and wide.
The attendance of 80,468 at Croke Park is a new URC record.
Leinster 26-12 Munster
76 mins – Leinster miss another penalty shot at the posts, this time it’s Frawley and he hist the post. Still no score for Leinster in the second half.
John Ryan off for a HIA, Butler replaces Farrell, Harry Byrne on for Lowe.
Caelan Doris announced as Player of the Match. What a shift from the Leinster captain.
Leinster 26-12 Munster
79 mins – Munster haven’t given up through a see-saw ending as the game peters out. Full-time imminent.
FULL-TIME: Leinster 26-12 Munster
That’s that from the big URC showdown at Croke Park. “An enjoyable one,” Doris says as his Leinster side run out 26-12 winners. They scored four tries in a superb first half and their defence was incredible impressive in the second. Munster bounced back and showed glimpses, but the result was never really in doubt.
An interesting game at Croke Park, and a brilliant occasion overall.
Ciarán Kennedy was at Croke Park for us and his report will be on The 42 imminently, along with the usual reaction, analysis and colour.
Elsewhere in the URC, kick-off is nearing for Ulster and Connacht. Sinéad Farrell is live-blogging that one for us, while Declan Bogue is at Kingspan Stadium.
That’s all from me, thanks for reading and enjoy your evening!
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Leinster Live Liveblog Minute-by-Minute Munster Rugby Updates