Cheetahs 24
Emerging Ireland 33
THERE WERE TIMES when it looked like this game might get away from a young Emerging Ireland team as the Cheetahs showed their power but Simon Easterby’s men dug in impressively in the second half to finish their South African trip unbeaten.
A big impact from the Irish bench helped as Easterby’s side followed up wins over the Pumas and Western Force with this five-try victory against the Cheetahs, hosts of this Toyota Challenge and semi-finalists in this year’s Currie Cup.
Watching on from back home in Ireland, Andy Farrell will have liked some of the things he has seen from this group over the past 10 days in Bloemfontein.
Connacht centre Hugh Gavin added to his growing reputation with a player of the match performance in this evening’s win over the Cheetahs, while tighthead prop Jack Aungier was among the other standouts in green. Captain James Culhane of Leinster was relentless at number eight.
Evan O’Connell, Andrew Obsorne, Alex Soroka, Matthew Devine, and Danny Sheahan all dotted down for Emerging Ireland, who were 17-12 down at half time but came up with an improved showing after the break despite evidence of fatigue as they played their third game in a week.
It remains to be seen which of these Irish players can now kick on and challenge for senior caps but Easterby, Paul O’Connell, John Fogarty, and Andrew Goodman will have learned plenty about them during this two-week stint with the group.
The players’ provinces will undoubtedly be happy to see them return home in the coming days and their spirits will be high after a successful tour to South Africa in which they showed character and no shortage of attacking quality.
A sloppy start from the Irish side allowed the Cheetahs to show their physical power early on this evening and they muscled their way over from close range through prop Robert Hunt for an unconverted seventh-minute try.
The Cheetahs thought they had a second score soon after when number eight Friedle Olivier crossed off a classy offload from centre Carel-Jan Coetzee but a TMO intervention highlighted a neck roll on Culhane in the build-up.
Relieved and spurred into life, Easterby’s men were clinical when they finally got an attacking visit to Cheetahs’ territory, striking well off set-piece. Culhane carried strongly on a maul break, then scrum-half Cormac Foley scooted away from the breakdown, tying in defenders before sending lock O’Connor surging over to finish.
Out-half Sam Prendergast’s conversion had Ireland 7-5 in front heading into the second quarter and nearly had a second try within minutes as Gavin broke from near halfway after Aungier’s tidy sweep pass. Gavin passed a hint early to Foley supporting on his left and a wonderful try-saving tackle by Cheetahs out-half Ethan Wentzel denied Foley.
The young Irish side struggled to deal with the hosts’ physicality in their own 22, however, and fullback Michael Annies dotted down their second try in the 25th minute when he ran onto a beautiful offload by Olivier. Hooker Corné Fourie then finished smartly from a five-metre maul and though Wentzel had his second miss off the tee, the Cheetahs led 17-7.
Ireland needed a response before the half-time break and a pacy counter-attack by fullback Ben O’Connor helped to earn a penalty that Prendergast kicked into the left corner.
The Irish maul was stopped but slick passes from Foley, Gavin, Prendergast, and O’Connor allowed right wing Osborne to finish comfortably out wide.
And there was time for Emerging Ireland to earn another five-metre chance before half time but they botched it by leaving the lineout early having just been warned not to do so.
Trailing 17-12, Easterby’s side needed a bright start to the second half but they were wasteful again in Cheetahs territory, getting turned over four times after finding themselves in promising positions.
Yet they kept coming as the game broke up and finally cracked the Cheetahs in the 55th minute as Aungier’s offload sent Gavin scorching downfield from halfway. His offload was loose but sub scrum-half popped the ball up and it fell into replacement back row Soroka’s arms after Prendergast was unable to hold it.
Ireland nudged 19-17 in front thanks to Prendergast’s conversion from under the posts and with fresh legs introduced to the pack from the bench, the visitors had suddenly found their rhythm as they began to stretch the Cheetahs’ defence with their fluid attack.
Cheetahs lock Carl Wegner was fortunate to avoid a red card in the 63rd minute after his shoulder made heavy contact with the face of Charlie Tector, who had just come on in the Irish midfield. Wegner was shown yellow as the referee found mitigation.
But it was the Cheetahs who scored next despite their numerical disadvantage as pacy fullback Annies got outside the Irish linespeed in defence to cross for his second score, converted for a 24-19 lead.
Easterby’s men found energy in response, with replacement out-half Jack Murphy making a good impact. It was the Ulster academy man’s gallop down the middle that allowed the lively Devine to pick and snipe, fending a Cheetahs defender on his way to scoring under the uprights, allowing Murphy to push them back in front at 26-24.
The Irish offloads were sticking again and after Soroka nearly crossed wide on the right, they won a penalty and opted to tap. From five metres out, sub hooker Sheahan forced his way over with a latch from Darragh Murray and Conor O’Tighearnaigh.
That sealed the deal and the Irish delight was evident in their celebrations.
Cheetahs scorers:
Tries: Robert Hunt, Michael Annies [2], Corné Fourie
Conversions: Ethan Wentzel [2 from 4]
Emerging Ireland scorers:
Tries: Evan O’Connell, Andrew Obsorne, Alex Soroka, Matthew Devine, Danny Sheahan
Conversions: Sam Prendergast [2 from 3], Jack Murphy [2 from 2]
CHEETAHS: Michael Annies; Prince Nkabinde, Munier Hartzenberg, Carel-Jan Coetzee, Asanda Kunene; Ethan Wentzel, Rewan Kruger; Schalk Ferreira, Corné Fourie, Robert Hunt; Carl Wegner (yellow card ’63), Victor Sekekete (captain); Gideon Van der Merwe, Siskonke Vumazonke, Friedle Olivier.
Replacements: Marco Janse van Rensburg, Hencus Van Wyk, Laurence Victor, Ulrich Stander, Neels Volschenk, Jandre Nel, George Lourens, Cohen Jasper.
EMERGING IRELAND: Ben O’Connor; Andrew Osborne, Hugh Cooney, Hugh Gavin; Zac Ward (Charlie Tector ’60), Sam Prendergast (Jack Murphy ’70), Cormac Foley (Matthew Devine ’52); Alex Usanov (George Hadden ’58), Stephen Smyth (Danny Sheahan ’65), Jack Aungier (Scott Wilson ’58); Evan O’Connell (Conor O’Tighearnaigh ’58), Darragh Murray; Harry Sheridan (Alex Soroka ’52), Sean Edogbo, James Culhane (captain).
Absolutely stellar refereeing performance from Busby on Saturday. Across the board, just knocked it out of the park. And by “it” I mean credibility.
@Peter Slattery: this has absolutely nothing to do with Busby. The ref doesn’t manage any of that at all.
@Peter Slattery: Peter, where do you get your amazing inside information, that it was the officials error and not Munsters? Maybe it would be a good idea to wait for the match report before pissing all over the officials. The fact that Munster didn’t lodge a complaint and Rowntree, who referenced the injury to the two hookers didn’t mention it in his press conference, suggests it’s not black and white.
@Stephen Nolan: tldr.
Munster got nothing from the ref. It wouldn’t have changed the result and Leinster were well worthy of the win, but Munster got nothing. The “forward pass” for the disallowed try was shambolic at this level.
@Eagle Eye: A referee can only judge a forward pass or knock on in the moment. In this case the AR called it… not Busby. As he was on the pitch and in line with it, he is better qualified to call it than anyone else. I could be wrong, but I believe the penalty count was 11 each and all the calls regarding knock ons and 22 marks have been disproven at this stage.
@Paul Ennis: I would go further to say that if people review the footage it’s clear the ball is received ahead of where the passer was and he had no momentum to justify that. So forward appears to be the correct call even from the footage. Regardless, as you say the official had the perfect view of it and made the call without hesitation.
@Paul Ennis: well no… He should have allowed playbto continue, not blow his trigger happy whistle and ask the TMO. That’s proper protocol!
@David Gaffney: Not if he sees a forward pass. If a referee sees it as forward, he has a responsibility to call it. Otherwise, everything is play on and stop the game after every play to let the TMO decide what happens next and then we can change the name of our sport to American Football.
@Paul Ennis: the mark is inconclusive at best but given how tight it is it’s hard to call it. Snyman/Ryan dropping the ball at the moment Snyman elbows Loughman (which I believe was accidental) has not been disproved because it’s clear on replays. Turner knocking the ball out when it should be a Munster lineout but Leinster get it before the bonus point try has not been disproved because it’s clear on replays. Ringrose slapping the ball down to prevent an overlap is also clear.
That’s before you even get to the Nankivell pass. Not challenging the result but the Officials had a very bad day. This only adds to it.
@David Gaffney: It’s absolutely not protocol. Good god the way people invent things to suit themselves.
@PJ Smith: It absolutely is proper, usual and (for the flow and fairness of games) to allow play continue while TMO checks before blowing the whistle.
This seems like a mistake by Munster management not the officials? Surely Munster should have had someone on the sidelines looking to get on the pitch
@Johndoe: It would have been the 4th official who stopped Hodnett going on. It sounds like Munster were trying to make 2 subs. The officials need to put their hands up on this one and they should know their regs around this. No prizes for guessing what will come up at all of the ARLB area meetings next month!!
@Johndoe: maybe read the article before commenting
@Ciaran Kennedy: article does not state anywhere that the referees stopped Munster from bringing on a sub. The part about Quinn was added after my comment. No one saw Quinn arguing with the officials on the sideline to let him on the pitch so I’m inclined to think he wasn’t told
Poor aul Busby is doing his best. It wasn’t good, and at least 2 Leinster tries would have been prevented with better refereeing, amongst other debatable calls, but that’s not his fault. He’s just a dude promoted above his level of competence.
Leinster were still good value for the win.
@Joe Barrett: ..
Not the worst summing up I’ll ever read and generally agree but prior to this, if my team came on the pitch with Busby ahead of the likes of Adamson or Lord Preserve us!!…Ben Whitehouse, I would not have grumbled…however he was quite one-sided in his interpretation of what was going on on the pitch. I’ll give him another chance before I put him alongside those other 2 puppets.
I’ve said this many times so nothing to do with Munster. The refs in general in the URC are absolutely diabolical . They can’t manage a scrum, breakdown, don’t let teams play, are constantly whistle happy and not consistent with cards. There is a constant bias with the home side getting the upper hand. Busby is at the top of a bunch of clowns who should not be let near a rugby pitch. Tapped Henning the south African head of referees should be sacked because these standards are not good enough for amateur leagues let alone the URC… Best competion in the world in competivity even against top 14, but worst officiating ..
@Stuart: And it won’t improve if budding referees are reading a post like this!! The only way it will improve is allow the amateur referee organisations recruit as best they can and hope for a few diamonds. The problem is that the very best are put forward for IPASS and the commitment is enormous. You still have to hold on to your full time job and your boss needs to be very understanding… that rules out lots of good guys and gals. Even if you make it on to the national panel, the wages are crap… and it is a full time job. The French and English have a bigger budget for a bigger league. The URC referees are spread across 5 Unions and there is a hell of alot of travel involved, which equals an even bigger commitment and greater chance of drop out!
@Stuart:Well articulate Stuart…
I watched a similar situation play out in Brive vs Biarittz on Friday try was given then reviewed , and then chalked off .
But Busby’s absolute conviction in his decision was very poor and he would do well to drop down a level and learn it’s not all about him
@Paul Ennis: yeah just find it so frustrating watching some of the best club rugby sides go at it each week and referees are the talking point alot of the time with decisions ..for most games you are pulling your hair out at some of the calls..anyhow you are right, no point being negative , as you have pointed out the pathways for refs a difficult one
@Paul Ennis: I think the standard required has definitely fallen in the last 5 years , this is not personal just a example;
Ben Whitehouse was never up to the required standard from the beginning , and he has made some major impacts on games and not in a positive way .
Something like a apprenticeship I’m reffing is need or actually having experience through the ranks .
I can only imagine that being in the cauldron of 80k people is hard enough when you top of your game , if your not it’s going to look very bad
@damien reidy: There is already a pathway that is tougher than an apprenticeship. It’s not like being an electrician or plumber and once you get your cert off you go… good bad or indifferent it cannot be taken away. Referees get dropped from IPASS or the National panel based on 1 bad season, an injury or maybe you are the wrong age profile. There is no certainty. Add in that alot of the guys being considered for the top will get into refereeing while in college. When they get their degree, the career options available are usually better away from rugby (and you don’t have to spend your weekends away from your young family). Join the ARLB, MAR, ARCB or USRFR – it is a great way to get involved and you will learn huge respect for the guys refereeing AIL.
@Paul Ennis: Paul I had no idea there was that pathway .. and if I was still back in Ireland I would have been very interested in this.
I remember the pathway for ex players that fast tracked Karl dickson and Glen Jackson
Here in France Refereeing is a full-time career and you have to work your way up regional- federal 2 and 1 then to Pro d2 then if your good enough Top14 .
The standard in Prod2 is better then Urc without doubt but so much is on the line with club budgets in excess of 5 million euros in the second division and crowds of 18,000 every week in places like Brive – The standard of official has to be good or they get cut very quickly
@damien reidy: I would say it is probably the same in the Championship in England. So therefore the referees are already in a professional career when they get to the layer below Prem / Top 14… but URC doesn’t really have that. I have met AIL referees who are juggling their jobs as Accountants /Solicitors / HR Managers / Doctors and they might be in Georgia for a Challenge Cup AR assignment on the weekend. That sounds like torture to me!
@Paul Ennis: You would think that World rugby would be involved in bringing the standard up to the best possible level and funding.
It’s the least they could do it’s in there interests to raise the professional standard
@damien reidy: That would be great… but ultimately it would cost Irish rugby more as we would be contributing towards the development of referees in Georgia, Italy and Australia. Funnily enough those Unions are doing a good job right now with smaller budgets. I think the IRFU needs to invest a little more. But how much? The jobs market in Ireland is such that it might take 6 figures to start attracting the guys who currently have the right skillset, fitness and aptitude but say thanks no thanks!
@Paul Ennis: I agree but elite referees need to be payed in accordance so the game can be truly professional , I’m sure if the tired hard enough they could find the funding..
Sounds more like incompetence from Munster rather than any nefarious attempts to reduce Munster to 14 by the officials. A player comes off and one comes on as his replacement. In this case two players came off. Munster were unable to process this simple task, it appears. Their fault and nobody else’s.
@Aidan Farrell: no read the article ya sausage
@Comeonyouknow: I think you might need to read it back removing presumptions re officials.
I don’t think Busby had a great game but I do think there is a disconnect between players, refs and the video ref team.
Beirne got very frustrated- I think with the unseen knockon- before the first try. Busby told him that if there was an issue the video team would pick it up. That’s fair enough, but it was clearly missed. It’s very hard for the players to have faith that these things are going to be picked up when pretty obvious stuff is missed. It’s particularly sore when the TMO calls Nash’s try back for a very tight alleged forward pass.
@Jack Kirwan: the TMO didn’t call that. The AR did. He was in line with it and called it immediately.
@Jack Kirwan: that was my main frustration as a Munster viewer. Missed a blatant knock-on by Leinster in the build-up to their try but called Munster pass to Nash forward and never even considered the TMO when it wasn’t super blatant. That was adding insult to injury. Those two decisions in quick succession were very frustrating. But overall the officiating wouldn’t have changed the result much. And in general I think Busby is a decent ref.
@Brenda Collins: why go to the TMO for a pass that was obviously forward? I was sat a few rows behind the AR perfectly in line with it, there was absolutely no need to waste time confirming what the AR already knew.
@teuO6nLS: Obviously forward ??????
Nothing to do with this game but think Busby was never and will never be a top tier referee, Leinster deserved their win. First 20 mins was superb and Munster didn’t have answers. Thought a better ref like Andy Brace should have gotten a big game like that, too big for Busby
@Barry Leahy: Andrew Brace turned down a match between Munster and Connacht last year, apparently because of conflict of loyalties or the like (he lives in Limerick and was employed by Munster previously), so anticipate he is out of the equation for any future Munster matches too.
@JoeVlogs: this is Brace who awarded a try on Saturday despite admitting not having seen the ball grounded and whose team missed a clear red for heffernan in the first half too. Busby may have missed a knock on or got a mark wrong but that small fry compared to Brace
@JoeVlogs: at least Brace has finally developed the common decency to admit his bias. Shame we had to put up with it on display for years before he did.
Iet the d4 brigade defend the indefensible the ref was a homer from start to finish thank God no trophies before Christmas as leinster would win the lot
All of these head injuries and no video ref review?
@Cormac McCarthy: Do you want the injured tacklers to be cited for injuring themselves??
Its a tough job il admit one I wouldn’t do myself. But Busby from day dot, from the AIL and everything else in between has always been a poor ref, yet he still gets these gigs. But its not just him standard of refs in Ireland at the moment is awful, the Scottish and Welsh ref are in my opinion in the same bracket.
Genuine question, why are people blaming the officials for this? Is it the case that Munster were prevented from bringing on a player? I’ve read this article and a few others about the same thing and they all just say that a second replacement wasn’t brought on. Does anybody know for sure if this is a mistake from the officials or a mistake from Munster? Would presume if the officials were at fault and blocked a player coming on there would be an official complaint.
@Sambo: maybe read it again as you missed it and it’s there. Munster have previous of not formally for officiating errors, they accept it as part of the game. It’ll change nothing.
@Sambo: there’s absolutely nothing here to suggest the officials were at fault. People are jumping to conclusions.
@Ciaran Kennedy: I’ve just read it again and still don’t see anything. It says Munster were hoping to bring a player on but it didn’t happen, that’s very vague which is why I’m asking if anyone knows the reason it didn’t happen. If I have missed it can you point me to it? Fair enough on the complaint point, I just thought if they knew they were a man down and were being blocked from bringing a player on there’d be more of a commotion.
@Sambo: Rowntree spoke about having to run down to the touchline to help with substitutions. They then changed the player they wanted to bring on. Sounds to me like there was some confusion in the Munster camp about who was to go on for whatever reason and the officials had nothing to do with it.
The officiating is an absolute joke in this league ffs
You’d miss the good old days when munster brought their own ref to most games against leinster
@Barry Lynch: Looks like the ladyboys are back in the Leinster 8 !
@Lulu: I’m not sure you understand where the term ladyboys came from or what it means. But bless your cotton socks, you’re trying hard Lulu.
Munster fans acting like there arent LEVELS between the teams anyway. Thomas clarkson was playing back row and we had our third and fourth choice hookers playing. Connacht are Leinster’s new rivals
@Dave Moran: ulster only beat ye twice last year
@Dave Moran: 4th and 5th actually.
@kieran horgan: and who won the knockout tie between them?
@Dave Moran: The “Ladyboy” is strong with this fella!
@Dave Moran: go and give the trophy cabinet a good dusting. its gathering cobwebs it hasn’t been opened in so long.
@Dave Moran: and the rest of your scrum pack?! Ireland are in trouble in the 6 Nations this year!
Every time they lose, always excuses, always someone else’s fault, and the Munster meeja will milk it for views and likes…
@Sea Point: Munster media… like the Limerick Leader? lol :)
@Thesaltyurchin: Munster are like the Welsh, disproportionately represented in Rugby media…
@Sea Point: People are the crop SeaPoint… Big fan base
No refs = no game. People need to accept that there will be decisions they don’t agree with. I’m still working on accepting some from last season ;-)
@Mark O’Keeffe: it’s hard to disagree with your comment Mark
Excellent journalistic goading Murray, you’re really adding tabloid psychology 101 to your ‘toolset’… really good bait article. Have to applaud it, got the correct reaction!… from everyone except Munster OR their overwhelming majority of fans, but it’s been wonderful for those turning the screw… amazing, well done!
Absolutely agree. Busby should never referee again. He was a disgrace.
@Brendan McAteer: the referee has nothing at all to do with this sort of thing. Jesus, some basic knowledge here wouldn’t hurt people.
For those complaining about the officials here, a few points worth noting….
Munster didn’t lodge a complaint.
Munster never mentioned the incident post match.
Munster changed who they were looking to bring on as a temporary replacement in the 4 mins they were down a man.
That suggests that maybe, just maybe, this was a Munster error and not one by the officials.
@John Molloy: Article says Munster tried to bring a player on and were stopped by the officials
@don duggan: no it doesn’t.
@don duggan: what it says is that Munster hoped to bring on Quinn, but it didn’t happen. It does not say the officials refused to allow them to bring him on. Rowntree himself said he had to run down to manage substitutions and we know that they didn’t in the end bring Quinn on, they brought on Ryan. You’ve just assumed that the reason Quinn didn’t go on was because of the officials. Nobody involved has made any such claim.
@John Molloy: It doesn’t matter what actually happens as long as you ‘believe’… Munster didn’t even ply this weekend ffs ;)