Munster 35
Connacht 33
MUNSTER EDGED CONNACHT by two points in a thrilling URC round one interpro derby, with the two provinces sharing 10 tries across a highly entertaining encounter at Thomond Park.
After a slow start this game erupted into life, with Connacht’s scintillating half-backs providing the spark. In an electric first-half display, out-half Josh Ioane and scrum-half Ben Murphy combined for three tries, with Munster responding through scores from Alex Nankivell and Mike Haley.
With Munster trailing by five points at the break, a rip-roaring second half brought five further tries as Graham Rowntree’s men came out on top thanks to Shane Daly’s late score, expertly converted by Tony Butler.
This was a captivating round one fixture in which both teams played some brilliant attacking rugby and were guilty of soft moments in defence. Connacht head back to Galway with two losing bonus points but will wonder how they failed to win after scoring five tries, while Munster’s spirited second-half performance was met with a raucous reception from the Thomond Park faithful at full-time.
Yet the first-half belonged to Connacht’s lively scrum-half, Murphy.
With just under 15 minutes played and little in the way of scoring opportunites, Murphy cut Munster open with a clever bit of opportunistic play, peeling away from the base of a scrum to sear forward and hit winger Shayne Bolton, who in turn found Ioane, with the New Zealander doing well to score in the corner. Ioane stuck the resulting conversion attempt wide but his team were in the driving seat.
From there, Connacht played with a real sense of purpose, showing impressive physicality up front and a cutting edge with ball in hand.
Five minutes after taking the lead, they were over again, Murphy providing the finishing touch to a sharp strike play. Attacking off a lineout, captain Cian Prendergast opened the space with a smart pass out the back to Mack Hansen, who found Ioane. The Connacht out-half was tackled near the line by Munster fullback Mike Haley, but the ball popped out to Murphy, who ran over unchallenged. After a short TMO check the try stood and Ioane’s conversion moved Connacht into a 12-0 lead.
It was a wonderful start from Connacht’s new half-backs, who were both making their competitive debuts for the province. Murphy, 23, joined from Leinster over the summer having made 14 appearances across three seasons with his home province. Ioane was signed from the Super Rugby the Chiefs, with the 29-year-old starting only one game for the Hamilton side last season.
The debutants had their team motoring nicely but then Munster grew into the game, with their rally led by Alex Nankivell. The centre had looked Munster’s most dangerous player in the opening stages and was involved in a few threatening attacks, including one which saw Nankivell and Craig Casey break at speed before Connacht recovered well to kill the move.
Moments later he was in. Munster broke through a fine piece of inventive play by Tom Farrell, who released an offload over his head to send Casey motoring for the line, but the scrum-half was hit hard by Connacht fullback Santiago Cordero, who received a yellow card for his troubles.
From the lineout Casey got the ball out to Nankivell, who bounced Conor Oliver to run through and score. Billy Burns added the conversion and Munster were back in the game.
With Cordero in the bin, Munster continued to find space in the Connacht defence.
A Tom Farrell break resulted in Fineen Wycherley being held up over the line. A goal-line drop-out offered the home side a second bite, and this time a superb offload on the deck from Hodnett kept the ball alive, allowing Haley to race through and score, slicing past Bolton and Hansen on his way to the tryline. Burns added the conversion as Connacht lost Bolton to injury, having hurt himself in the process of tackling Haley.
Connacht had lost their early momentum but kept throwing punches, Hansen darting for the corner and trying to play in David Hawkshaw, with the ball lost forward at the crucial moment.
With half-time approaching Connacht conjured up another moment of magic, Murphy releasing Ioane before taking the return pass to score another fine try. Cathal Forde converted and Connacht led 19-14 at the break.
The second half started in frustrating fashion for Munster, with Burns missing two kicks to touch within three minutes of the restart. His third, successful attempt was met with ironic cheers and saw Munster collect the lineout cleanly to move into their phase play, building pressure before Hodnett went over from close range. Burns converted and Munster were back in the lead.
The game hurdled along at a ferocious pace. After Ioane struck the post with a long-range penalty, Hansen was alert to sweep up the rebound and offer his team another opportunity to test the Munster defence. After a patient advance in the Munster 22, Oisin Dowling was held up over the line by Gavin Coombes, with Burns forced off injured after picking up a bang in the process.
The visitors were clinical from the restart, Ioane linking up nicely with Cathal Forde and Dave Heffernan before Hawkshaw punched through to score, with Ioane converting.
The momentum continued to swing as Gavin Coombes crossed for Munster at the other end, the backrow powering over after a smart step from Shane Daly and excellent hands from Jack O’Donoghue, with replacement out-half Butler adding a superb conversion from the sideline.
With both teams emptying their benches, the contest grew increasingly open.
Connacht centre Piers O’Conor found himself in a footrace with Nankivell after chipping over the top, with Nankivell almost losing the bouncing ball before recovering. It led to a Connacht scrum, and from the setpiece Cathal Forde battered through a barrier of red jerseys to score Connacht’s fifth try of the evening, owing thanks to a big support shove from O’Conor. Ioane’s conversion pushed Connacht to 33 points.
Over to Munster. With numbers up, Casey moved the ball to Nankviell, who threw a fine bridge pass to Haley, the Munster fullback then spinning it wide to Daly, who had the pace to finish and score Munster’s fifth try. Butler’s second conversion was as good as his first, and entering the final 10 minutes Munster led by two.
Somehow, that’s where the scoring ended, with the home crowd on their feet as Casey killed the game by booting the ball of the field. After a breathless evening in Limerick, Munster are off to a winning start in the URC.
Munster scorers:
Tries – Nankivell, Haley, Hodnett, Coombes, Daly.
Conversions – Burns [3/3], Butler [2/2]
Connacht scorers:
Tries – Ioane, Murphy [2], Hawkshaw, Forde.
Conversions – Ioane [3/4], Forde [1/1]
Penalty – Ioane [0/1]
MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Thaakir Abrahams, Tom Farrell (Seán O’Brien, 76), Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly (Seán O’Brien, 37-HT HIA); Billy Burns (Tony Butler, 54), Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman (Josh Wycherley, 51), Diarmuid Barron (capt), (Niall Scannell, 64), John Ryan (Oli Jager, 51); Jean Kleyn (Jack O’Donoghue, 56), Fineen Wycherley; Ruadhán Quinn (Alex Kendellen, 51), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
CONNACHT: Santiago Cordero; Mack Hansen, Piers O’Conor, Cathal Forde, Shayne Bolton (David Hawkshaw, 34); Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy (, Caolin Blade,, 63); Denis Buckley (Peter Dooley, 52), Dave Heffernan (Dylan Tierney-Martin, 67), Jack Aungier (Sam Illo, 52); Joe Joyce (Oisín Dowling, 51), Darragh Murray (Sean Jansen, 52); Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver (Shamus Hurley-Langton, 52), Cian Prendergast (capt).
Referee: Chris Busby [IRFU].
Attendance: 15,705.
