Gavan Casey Reports from Virgin Media Park

Munster 23

Ospreys 0

MUNSTER BOUNCED BACK from last weekend’s embarrassing defeat to Zebre in impressive fashion, earning a bonus-point victory over the Ospreys in biblical conditions at Virgin Media Park.

Graham Rowntree’s side produced an aggressive, polished display despite the torrential rain in Cork to right their course towards Croke Park next Saturday.

The victory may have taken a toll ahead of that meeting with Leinster, however, as Munster lost key trio Oli Jager, Peter O’Mahony and Mike Haley to injury in the process of dominating tonight’s visitors.

First-half tries by Shay McCarthy, Tom Farrell, Calvin Nash, and an additional score into the wind by Jack O’Donoghue just after the hour mark, were more than enough for the southern province to take maximum points from a game of which they had complete control for 80 minutes.

Question marks around Munster’s defensive appetite, meanwhile, could scarcely have been answered more emphatically than by leaving the Ospreys staring at a goose egg as they trudge back across the Irish Sea.

The tone on a flooded Leeside was set from kick-off, quite literally.

As referee Mike Adamson sounded his whistle, Jack Crowley harnessed the wind and dropped one in over the shoulder of Ospreys centre Owen Watkin, who made an absolute hames of it.

The ball popped forward from Watkin’s grasp, over the centre’s own head and into the hands of the on-rushing Munster wing Shay McCarthy, who dotted down inside 10 seconds. The left winger’s try, incidentally, equalled a league record set by Edinburgh wing Dougie Fife back in 2018.

Pre-game, Crowley had practiced several place kicks from the same spot as his conversion, a few metres in from the left-hand touchline. He found that he needed to start the ball seven or eight metres right of the posts and let the ball surf its way to shore. His first effort when it counted was a slight miscue, starting too centrally and trailing left to leave the score at 5-0.

The out-half, however, stretched Munster’s lead to eight before the 10-minute mark from a more central position after Ospreys captain Jac Morgan was pinged for a croc-roll.

With a strong wind at their backs, Crowley and his half-back partner Craig Casey ran the early proceedings from the boot, making excellent use of low kicks to keep the Ospreys pinned inside their own 22′.

The home side enjoyed most of the breaks in a pinball-like opening quarter but they suffered a blow on 13 minutes when Oli Jager was withdrawn with an apparent shoulder injury, Stephen Archer replacing the Ireland international.

Ospreys, incidentally, had already been forced into an unscheduled change in the same position, with Ben Warren drafted in for the highly important Tom Botha at tighthead shortly before kick-off.

That left Munster in total control of the scrum but by 22 minutes the home side were down a second forward of their own, former captain Peter O’Mahony shaking his head in a combination of annoyance and discomfort as he made way for Gavin Coombes. O’Mahony would later take a seat in the Main Stand for the second half, during which he applied an ice pack to his left hamstring.

Peter O'Mahony and Oli Jager both left the game early for the hosts. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Munster, though, stretched their lead in the meantime when Niall Scannell cleverly recycled the ball to Tom Farrell at the back of a rolling maul as it began to splutter on the Ospreys’ line.

Farrell’s first Munster try made the score 13-0, and it stayed that way when Crowley missed the mark from the right.

Munster were given the chance to extend their lead to three scores on 36 minutes when the Ospreys narrowly escaped with the ball from their own scrum only for hooker Dewi Lake to seal off at the ensuing ruck just outside his own 22′.

Munster kicked for touch and, on penalty advantage after a patient assault on the Ospreys’ line, the imperious Casey fired a trademark skip pass from a different postcode out to Calvin Nash on the right wing. Nash had to do little more than fall over the line for Munster’s third try.

With the clock red, Crowley was again off target with the extras but Munster took an 18-0 advantage into a break which was badly needed by their visitors.

By this writer’s reckoning, Ospreys were not only incapable of firing a shot in the opening 40 but didn’t actually possess the ball in Munster’s half.

Upon the restart, a powerful linebreak by Garryowen trialist Bryan Fitzgerald proposed that, unlike Parma last week, there would be no let-up from the men in red in the second period.

Ospreys finally made it inside Munster territory on 48 minutes. They won a penalty as Munster were penalised for playing the ball on the ground in what looked to be an effective counter-ruck, and Dan Edwards blasted them from halfway up to the Munster 5′ for their first opportunity of the game.

Munster, however, blew their visitors off their own ball a couple of phases after the lineout, with Stephen Archer winning a penalty as he was played by a man on the ground while trying to secure possession.

Munster continued to target Ospreys ball on the deck, captain Tadhg Beirne winning two jackal turnovers — his second putting to an end another Ospreys opportunity near the Munster line.

Ospreys certainly enjoyed a greater territorial advantage throughout the third quarter but they entered the final 20 minutes still scoreless.

The dagger blow from Munster came after a scrum-penalty win on 62. Crowley prodded his side from halfway to just outside the Ospreys 22′ — a solid return in the wind — and Munster carved the Ospreys open off third phase from the resulting lineout.

On a set play, replacement scrum-half Conor Murray fed Jack O’Donoghue to his left, with the Waterford native popping back inside to left wing Shay McCarthy who punched the hole.

McCarthy took contact inside the Ospreys’ 22′ before scooping an offload back into the arms of O’Donoghue, who finished from 10 yards out for the home bonus point.

Crowley was again off the mark with his conversion — he was visibly annoyed to go 0-from-4 — but Munster were out of sight with maximum points at 23-0.

Mike Haley then limped off on 70 minutes to further concern the Munster faithful ahead of next Saturday’s meeting with Leinster. Jack Daly soon afterwards replaced Calvin Nash — seemingly unharmed — with Munster’s 6-2 bench split dictating that John Hodnett stood in at outside centre while Tom Farrell shifted out to the right wing.

And even with Stephen Archer in the bin after repeated team infringements on Munster’s own line, Rowntree’s side repelled a late, close-range assault by Toby Booth’s Ospreys who were galled to find themselves held up over the line.

A drenched Virgin Media Park shook itself off once more when the impressive Bryan Fitzgerald turned over an Ospreys maul deep inside Munster’s 22′ with 90 seconds remaining.

Credit to the Ospreys: it was only at this stage that the odd Welsh head began to drop. But greater credit to Munster, who restored normality in the eye of a storm.

Scorers for Munster:

Tries: Shay McCarthy, Tom Farrell, Calvin Nash, Jack O’Donoghue. Cons: Crowley (0/3) Pens: Crowley (1/1)

Scorers for Ospreys:

Tries: Cons: Pens:

MUNSTER: Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Bryan Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (C); Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Jack O’Donoghue.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Conor Murray, Tony Butler, Jack Daly.

OSPREYS: Max Nagy, Iestyn Hopkins, Owen Watkin, Phil Cokanasiga, Ryan Conbeer, Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Steffan Thomas, Dewi Lake, Ben Warren, Huw Sutton, Adam Beard, James Ratti, Jac Morgan (CAPT) Morgan Morris

Replacements: Sam Parry, Garyn Phillips, Matt Iorwerth-Scott, Lewis Jones, Harri Deaves, Luke Davies, Jack Walsh, Keiran Williams

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)