MUNSTER INTERIM HEAD coach Ian Costello praised his charges for the way they took control of their clash with Scarlets in the third quarter to seal their fourth URC win in five games with a 29-8 bonus point win at Thomond Park.
Munster put a dreadful opening half display behind them to get their act together after the restart with Gavin Coombes leading the way with a superb performance he crowned with a brace of trademark tries from close range.
A try from replacement academy winger Shay McCarthy saw them lead 7-3 at the end of an opening half where both sides were guilty of multiple basic errors.
But Munster sorted out their game after the restart and had the bonus point in the bag by the 64th minute with Alex Kendellen scoring either side of Coombes’ tries.
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“The third quarter was outstanding,” said Costello. “It was a mix of everything we tried to do … set-piece, kick-chase, tap-backs. We were relentless in that period and that’s where we won the game.
“We were rusty – we hadn’t played in three weeks, you could probably see that, even though we trained really well. We had 14 turnovers in the first half.”
He said they did not panic during the break and the coaches were clear in their message to the players.
“Staying calm and staying positive was important, because we’d dominated possession and territory.
“It was one of those games you’d regret if you didn’t get the third quarter right, so we reinforced the positives.
“We said we need to look after the ball, probably move a little quicker, just be a bit smarter close to the line, rather than forcing the pass when we didn’t need to.”
Scarlets, who started with nine internationals and brought another four off the bench, were unable to deal with Munster’s intensity after the break, but Costello reckoned his side had worn them down despite all the errors in the opening half.
“Sometimes the first half drains the tank as well,” he added. “I looked at their body language into the second half and even though we hadn’t scored at that point, you could see that the first half had taken a toll on them.”
Munster will now hope to continue their march up the table when they host Edinburgh in Cork in a couple of weeks.
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'The third quarter was outstanding... we were relentless'
MUNSTER INTERIM HEAD coach Ian Costello praised his charges for the way they took control of their clash with Scarlets in the third quarter to seal their fourth URC win in five games with a 29-8 bonus point win at Thomond Park.
Munster put a dreadful opening half display behind them to get their act together after the restart with Gavin Coombes leading the way with a superb performance he crowned with a brace of trademark tries from close range.
A try from replacement academy winger Shay McCarthy saw them lead 7-3 at the end of an opening half where both sides were guilty of multiple basic errors.
But Munster sorted out their game after the restart and had the bonus point in the bag by the 64th minute with Alex Kendellen scoring either side of Coombes’ tries.
“The third quarter was outstanding,” said Costello. “It was a mix of everything we tried to do … set-piece, kick-chase, tap-backs. We were relentless in that period and that’s where we won the game.
“We were rusty – we hadn’t played in three weeks, you could probably see that, even though we trained really well. We had 14 turnovers in the first half.”
He said they did not panic during the break and the coaches were clear in their message to the players.
“Staying calm and staying positive was important, because we’d dominated possession and territory.
“It was one of those games you’d regret if you didn’t get the third quarter right, so we reinforced the positives.
“We said we need to look after the ball, probably move a little quicker, just be a bit smarter close to the line, rather than forcing the pass when we didn’t need to.”
Scarlets, who started with nine internationals and brought another four off the bench, were unable to deal with Munster’s intensity after the break, but Costello reckoned his side had worn them down despite all the errors in the opening half.
“Sometimes the first half drains the tank as well,” he added. “I looked at their body language into the second half and even though we hadn’t scored at that point, you could see that the first half had taken a toll on them.”
Munster will now hope to continue their march up the table when they host Edinburgh in Cork in a couple of weeks.
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Ian Costello Munster Reaction Rugby URC