Munster 27
Connacht 14
Ryan Bailey reports from Thomond Park
DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE QUICKLY contrived to make this end-of-season inter-pro a glorified warm-up for the serious business to come, as Munster — despite a commanding victory here — had to settle for a second-place finish in Conference A.
Johann van Graan’s side did what was asked of them by securing four points against a Connacht side keeping their powder dry for a quarter-final of their own, but Glasgow Warrior’s victory over Edinburgh means Munster face a longer, and altogether tougher, route to Pro14 glory.
The southern province will host Benetton in next Saturday’s quarter-final, with the winner of that tie going on to face Conference B winners Leinster at the RDS in the last four. A repeat of last year’s thrilling semi-final derby is now very much on the cards.
Munster will go into the play-offs with concerns over the fitness of Conor Murray, who was a late withdrawal from tonight’s game after taking a knock to his neck during the pre-match warm-up. Van Graan was, understandably, not prepared to task any risks.
Even without Murray, the hosts had too much firepower for Andy Friend’s side as first-half tries from man of the match Tadhg Beirne and Mike Haley set Munster on their way as they picked themselves up from last week’s European heartache in Coventry.
Coming to Thomond Park with a reconfigured side and one eye on the serious business in Belfast next weekend, this was always going to be a tough task for Connacht, who rested many of their front-liners and then withdrew the likes of Bundee Aki, captain Jarrad Butler and Finlay Bealham early in the second period.
The visitors started with plenty of intent and no shortage of motivation as they chased their fifth straight Pro14 victory, having not achieved that feat since 2016, but after taking the lead through Bealham’s first-half try, had left themselves with too much to do after the interval.
Even in defeat, Connacht can take plenty of positives from this showing, not least their spirited second-half performance as they briefly brought it back to a one-score game through Eoin McKeon’s hard-earned try.
There were also excellent individual cameos from the returning Bealham and Kieran Marmion, while 21-year-old out-half Conor Dean was composed in the pivot on his senior debut.
For Munster, this was a useful work-out ahead of the visit of Benetton but van Graan’s side will know they’ll need to move up through the gears in the weeks to come if they are to end their eight-year wait for silverware.
They weren’t helped by the loss of Murray minutes before kick-off, but his replacement, Neil Cronin, was quick to seize his starting opportunity. The Garryowen nine was a lively performer and his quick and quality service allowed the hosts establish a 17-7 half-time advantage.
Van Graan’s side could, and should, have led by more at the break had it not been for Andrew Conway’s howler, with the Munster winger spurning a gilt-edged opportunity after intercepting Tiernan O’Halloran.
Conway will not want to see the replay too many times, as Stephen Fitzgerald — the former Munster man — got back to knock the ball out of his hands before the Ireland international dotted down.
Beirne and Haley made sure of their first-half tries, as the southern province rebounded strongly after Bealham — back after a nasty hand injury — had handed Connacht a 23rd-minute lead.
Out-half Dean showed a couple of confident early touches in the opening exchanges, including a perfectly-judged kick into the corner, but two missed penalties in the first 40 cost the visitors after Friend’s side had enjoyed large tracts of possession and territory.
At the other end, Munster — save for Conway’s sloppiness — were far more clinical. Cronin sniped to release the ever-willing Beirne to gallop through a hole in the Connacht rearguard, after Robin Copeland had been drawn to the decoy run of Jean Kleyn.
Beirne still had plenty to do but showed his power and athleticism to back himself from 20 yards out, step the covering Niyi Adeolokun and ride the last-ditch tackle attempt from O’Halloran to get over under the posts, with Tyler Bleyendaal tacking on the extras.
Six minutes later, Munster were over for their second. Conway reminded everyone of his attacking quality with a burst down the right as Connacht were caught narrow, and the supporting Peter O’Mahony combined with Haley to finish the job.
The second half was a fairly non-descript affair. Bleyendaal extended Munster’s advantage off the tee before both sides emptied their benches, only adding to the stop-start nature of proceedings.
Connacht enjoyed the better of it, eventually earning their just rewards having pitched tent in the Munster 22 through McKeon after Jeremy Loughman had been binned.
But it only served to re-awaken Munster, who responded in kind with an excellent team score finished off by JJ Hanrahan, after superb hands from Conway, Beirne and Haley in the build-up.
See you all back here next week.
Munster scorers:
Tries: Tadhg Beirne, Mike Haley, JJ Hanrahan.
Conversions: Tyler Bleyendaal [2 from 2], JJ Hanrahan [1 from 1].
Penalties: Tyler Bleyendaal [2 from 2].
Connacht scorers:
Tries: Finlay Bealham, Eoin McKeon.
Conversions: Conor Dean [2 from 2].
Penalties: Conor Dean [0 from 2].
MUNSTER: 15. Mike Haley, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Chris Farrell (Sammy Arnold 68′), 12. Dan Goggin, 11. Calvin Nash, 10. Tyler Bleyendaal (JJ Hanrahan 68′), 9. Neil Cronin (Craig Casey 76′); 1. Dave Kilcoyne (Jeremy Loughman 52′), 2. Niall Scannell (Rhys Marshall 68′), 3. Stephen Archer (John Ryan 53′), 4. Jean Kleyn (Billy Holland 68′), 5. Tadhg Beirne, 6. Peter O’Mahony (captain), 7. Chris Cloete (Arno Botha 68′), 8. CJ Stander.
CONNACHT: 15. Tiernan O’Halloran (Darragh Leader 72′), 14. Niyi Adeolokun, 13. Bundee Aki (Eoin Griffin 59′), 12. Tom Daly, 11. Stephen Fitzgerald, 10. Conor Dean, 9. Kieran Marmion (Caolin Blade 64′); 1. Matthew Burke (Peter McCabe 49′), 2. Tom McCartney (Shane Delahunt 45′), 3. Finlay Bealham (Conor Carey 49′), 4. Joe Maksymiw, 5. James Cannon (Eoghan Masterson 57′), 6. Eoin McKeon, 7. Jarrad Butler (captain)(Paul Boyle 64′), 8. Robin Copeland.
Referee: Frank Murphy [IRFU].
Attendance: 19,999.
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