Murray Kinsella Reports from Thomond Park

Munster 7

Leinster 28

ALL IN ALL, this was not a cheery post-Christmas day for Munster against Leinster.

The Munster A team lost 47-12 to their Leinster counterparts in Nenagh earlier, with the senior Munster team following up by being on the receiving end of a powerful, clinical Leinster performance at Thomond Park.

Leo Cullen’s side was strong on paper and the display matched up as Ireland international forwards like James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Rónan Kelleher, and Andrew Porter, as well as French tighthead Rabah Slimani, made their presence felt in the set-piece and collisions as they earned a bonus-point victory.

This makes it nine wins from nine for Leinster in the URC this season, seven with bonus points.

Leinster’s lineout improved after recent travails and they were ruthless when they got chances in the Munster 22, with halfbacks Luke McGrath and player of the match Sam Prendergast finishing first-half tries before back row duo Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris added two more in the second.

Munster will regret their inability to cross the Leinster tryline in a crucial 15-minute period of pressure in the first half during which Leinster’s Tommy O’Brien was shown a yellow card, albeit the visitors deserve great credit for their ability to deny the men in red, that bout ending with Tadhg Beirne being held up over the line. Leinster then went down the other end and scored their second try.

Jacques Nienaber’s defence continues to impress and they improved on their average concession of 13 points in the URC by giving up just seven to Munster. This Leinster team has changed greatly under the South African senior coach but the difference in quality between them and Munster remains clear.

Munster’s effort cannot be faulted but ultimately, this all had a very familiar feel.

Thomond Park was rocking before kick off. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

With perfect conditions on a dry, windless night, the pre-game energy at Thomond was high as the home crowd belted out Stand Up and Fight and then Zombie but they were deflated within 10 minutes of kick off.

Munster had a prime chance to make an early impact as a Leinster penalty allowed them to kick down into the 22 but Beirne couldn’t take Niall Scannell’s throw. A minute later, Munster out-half Billy Burns kicked dead from the halfway line and Leinster had their first platform.

They made a bust from the midfield scrum as McGrath and Jamie Osborne played a clever 1-2 but Robbie Henshaw spurned a two-man overlap as his pass wide to the right flew forward.

Still, Leinster maintained the pressure at the ensuing scrum as Slimani burrowed forward for a penalty that was sent into the right corner. The Leinster forwards bashed a few metres closer and after a fine carry from Baird, it was McGrath who sniped over for a ninth-minute try that Prendergast converted.

Munster had some big chances to respond in the 15 minutes that followed but couldn’t turn their 22 entries into points.

Leinster’s pack muscularly turned over a five-metre maul effort, loosehead Jack Boyle and lock Ryan leading that fight. But Munster made their way back into the Leinster 22 via a superb kick chase and hit on Prendergast by Calvin Nash and Fineen Wycherely, with hooker Scannell earning the turnover at the breakdown.

Luke McGrath scored the opening try. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO

Into the corner went Munster and three more Leinster penalties followed before wing Tommy O’Brien was sin-binned for the cumulative infringements. Munster looked to finish from a five-metre tap play but Garry Ringrose and Henshaw did an excellent job of holding Beirne up over the tryline.

So despite having had 80% territory and 70% possession in the opening 25 minutes, Munster had nothing to show for it.

By comparison, Leinster were lethal. Their scrum edge continued, with Porter making a big impact after being introduced for the seemingly uninjured Boyle in the 23rd minute. 

Prendergast piled on the pressure with a clever grubber into the left corner and Leinster then drove Munster scrum-half Ethan Coughlan over his own tryline for the scrum platform that eventually yielded their second try.

After Porter’s second scrum penalty win against Oli Jager, the visitors tapped and with Kelleher and Slimani having gone close, McGrath swept the ball right to Prendergast for the out-half to arc outside Tom Farrell and back in under the posts to make his conversion straightforward.

Munster searched for scraps in the closing minutes of the half but Ryan picked off one of their lineouts at the tail to ensure Leinster led 14-0 at the break.

The scrum battle was intense. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Munster needed to get off to a flyer in the second 40 and they did exactly that as Mike Haley won back Burns’ restart superbly before the tables turned at the scrum, Jager earning a penalty against Porter, much to the home fans’ pleasure.

So Munster were swiftly back into the left corner where they won two more penalties as Leinster’s discipline erred again.

Munster punished them smartly as referee Sam Grove-White indicated another penalty advantage, replacement back row John Hodnett throwing a classy short pass to the hard-working Tom Ahern, who finished through O’Brien’s tackle effort. Burns tacked on the two extra points and Munster were back within seven.

The buzz was back among the Thomond faithful and the noise levels only lifted with a bout of push-and-shove in the 50th minute, Ahern and Prendergast taking issue with each other.

Leinster were fired up and their scrum demolished the Munster pack soon after for a dominant penalty that Prendergast landed into touch five metres out on the left-hand side. Typically, they took their chance clinically as Henshaw, Baird, and Ryan carried aggressively before van der Flier barged over to score. It looked like Leinster had offloaded from the ground well after a tackle in the build-up but the officials were happy it was legal and Prendergast converted for 21-7 in the 55th minute.

Tempers flare at Thomond Park. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Munster had to find a way back in again, a croc roll penalty against Henshaw helping as Leinster played advantage from another scrum win, but when they created space on the right edge, Nash’s pass to Hodnett was forward.

With John Ryan on at tighthead, Munster had a rare scrum win against the head on Leinster’s feed but they couldn’t sniff out further attacking openings against the steely Leinster defence.

With both benches being unleashed, it had become a scrappy encounter by the time Leinster won a 69th-minute breakdown penalty that might have given them a close-range chance to grab the bonus point but Ross Byrne, on for Prendergast, missed touch.

They nearly found a way through in the next passage as lock Joe McCarthy made a bust down the left before sub scrum-half Fintan Gunne found space in the shortside only for Munster to scramble well. 

It felt like it was only a matter of time and that proved to be the case as captain Doris blasted through opposite number Gavin Coombes from a five-metre tap penalty to seal the deal for Leinster.

There was still time for Leinster to be held up over the tryline but they head into their New Year rest weekend in a happy place. Munster must lift themselves again.

Munster scorers:

Tries: Tom Ahern

Conversions: Billy Burns [1 from 1]

Leinster scorers:

Tries: Luke McGrath, Sam Prendergast, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris

Conversions: Sam Prendergast [3 from 3], Ross Byrne [1 from 1]

MUNSTER: Mike Haley (Ben O’Connor ’76); Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; Billy Burns (Tony Butler ’65), Ethan Coughlan (Paddy Patterson ’51); Dian Bleuler (Kieran Ryan ’74), Niall Scannell (HIA – Eoghan Clarke ’23 to ’37, permanent ’74), Oli Jager (John Ryan ’54); Fineen Wycherley (John Hodnett ’41), Tadhg Beirne (captain); Tom Ahern, Alex Kendellen (Brian Gleeson ’65), Gavin Coombes.