Ospreys 11
Munster 25
Rob Penney’s Munster returned to the summit of the Pro12 after a three-try win over the Ospreys in which they played some impressive attacking rugby. In an entertaining affair at the Liberty Stadium, the southern province were the more accurate side and deserved their win.
A typically powerful maul in the 6th minute allowed Munster into an early lead, with openside flanker Sean Dougall touching down after the pack’s strong work. Donnacha Ryan popped off the top to intelligently allow Penney’s men to set the maul up at the tail before powering over.
Ian Keatley converted and then added a 16th minute penalty to put Munster into control in the first quarter. Sam Davies got the Ospreys off the mark with a penalty of his own shortly after, but following another three points from Keatley, Munster were heading for a strong half time lead.
However, the out-half slipped off a one-on-one tackle just before the interval to allow Welsh international Ashley Beck to score a try, leaving the scoreline at 13-8 in Munster’s favour heading into the second half.
Simon Zebo got the second period off to the perfect start when he scooped up a loose ball, spun out of Tom Habberfield’s despairing tackle and raced clear from 70 metres out to dot down.
Davies’s 68th minute penalty brought the Ospreys back in touch, but Munster once again found a route to pull away in response. Replacement JJ Hanrahan scythed through the Welsh side’s front-line defence, before finding the surging James Downey.
The towering inside centre needed no second invitation and raced home to finish the try-scoring chance. With Hanrahan converting, Munster were out to a 25-11 lead with just eight minutes left on the clock, and the Ospreys wasted a pair of opportunities late on.
Munster move back to the top of the Pro12 ladder, two points ahead of the chasing Leinster. Penney will have been pleased with some of the attacking rugby his team played in Wales this afternoon as he remains focused on finishing the season with silverware.
Ospreys scorers:
Try: Ashley Beck
Penalties: Sam Davies (2)
Munster scorers:
Tries: Sean Dougall, Simon Zebo, James Downey
Conversions: Ian Keatley, JJ Hanrahan
Penalties: Ian Keatley (2)
OSPREYS: Sam Davies; Aisea Natoga, Jonathan Spratt (capt.), Ashley Beck, Jeff Hassler; Matthew Morgan, Tom Habberfield (Tito Tebaldi); Duncan Jones (Marc Thomas), Scott Baldwin (Matthew Dwyer), Dan Suter; Perry Parker (Ryan Jones), James King; Tyler Ardron, Sam Lewis, Joe Bearman (Dan Baker).
Replacements not used: Joe Rees, Hanno Dirksen, Richard Fussell.
MUNSTER: Felix Jones ; Andrew Conway, Casey Laulala, James Downey (Denis Hurley), Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley (JJ Hanrahan), Cathal Sheridan (Duncan Williams); James Cronin (Dave Kilcoyne), Duncan Casey (Ger Slattery), BJ Botha (Stephen Archer); Donnacha Ryan, Dave Foley (Donncha O’Callaghan); Tommy O’Donnell (CJ Stander), Sean Dougall, James Coughlan (capt.).
Referee: David Wilkinson (IRFU).
Man of the Match given to the Ospreys 7, Lewis, despite being on the losing side of a team who were convincingly beaten on the day, strange decision!
Bias
No, not given by broadcaster, given by home PR. Bit like in RDS.
Should listen to the Welsh commentators and pundits and crowd during the match.
Everyone else’s fault both Ospreys that they lost
The ref’s, the Tmo (Welsh tmo),the wru’s, the Pro12 etc etc etc
Joe Schmidt keeping Munster top of pro 12 .. . .
How good was jjs cameo?? How long before we see him in green?
Well since he plays for munster and plays a lot of the cuff we won’t be seeing him any time soon.
Schmidt likes players who stick to his system. Unfortunately that’s why we lost yesterday.
Great Munster performance scrum, lineout and especially their defence were excellent. Ryan and Zebo should feature against the Italians in two weeks time.
Come on munster some game lets hope zebo and tommy o’donnell get in the ireland team for next few games
Great win by Munster, they looked to be enjoying it. Conway looked very lively, another great sidestep from Hanrahan, future is bright
Why does this pro/anti province argument get carted out especially when Ireland lose. As an Ulster fan I have complete faith that Schmidt has only one objective…. Ireland to win. Personally I don’t care how he does it, be it with 23 Leinster players or 23 ‘project players’
Was that James Downeys first try for munster? He took it very well.
Let’s not get carried away about JJ, he was very average last week. Sure he has a great future but he still has a way to go before he is the full package meanwhile let Munster benefit from the lack of representation on the Irish team. After the World Cup our representation will certainly increase.
Bit of a gift but impressive speed all the same
The Welsh 7 was the best player on the pitch. Did any of the commentators here watch the game?
Zebo did absolutely nothing other than take advantage of sloppy Ospreys play, side-step and run like eff without effective pursuit.
Ryan was excellent for Munster (can’t see him displacing Toner just yet), the half backs were good and the centres dominated, the pack was solid. Munster need two new wingers who will work for the team, not for themselves. Hanrahan showed some great touches and set up the try beautifully. However, what will stop him getting to green (as is the case for Marmion at Connacht) is naivety. He gets caught out of position far too easily just yet. His flair will endear him to J Schmidt, but the lack of positional discipline will play against him. He also needs a fast scrum half (Sheridan or Williams are fine, but Murray is too slow. Bring back Stringer!).