Munster 45
Dragons 14
A YOUNG MUNSTER side proved too strong for a depleted Dragons at Musgrave Park, the reigning URC champions scoring seven tries on their way to a 45-14 bonus-point win.
Munster head coach Graham Rowntree named seven Academy players in a matchday 23 which included first starts for summer signings Alex Nankivell and Seán O’Brien, while Academy out-half Tony Butler made his first competitive start for the province.
The Dragons travelled to Cork with 20 of their squad unavailable, with 13 players ruled out through injury and seven on duty in Cardiff as Wales took on the Barbarians in a poorly-timed international fixture.
The Welsh side lost all nine of their away fixtures in the URC last season and it soon became clear that rotten run of form was not going to end this evening. While it was far from a perfect Munster performance, the home side provided some moments of real quality in attack and were able to get the job done with ease.
All eyes were on 21-year-old out-half Butler and the former Clare minor hurler quickly made his presence felt, breaking forward and spinning a sharp pass out to Calvin Nash only for the move to break down with Gavin Coombes short of the tryline.
After Dragons lost Angus O’Brien to an early injury Munster looked for the breakthrough, with Nash spilling a forward pass from Craig Casey on the tryline.
Munster enjoyed 65% of the possession in the opening 10 minutes but struggled to settle into the game, with three passes going to fresh air and O’Brien kicking the ball dead on the full.
When the hosts finally opened the scoring it came via a beautiful team move from a lineout on half-way, with Nankivell and Nash both involved before Rory Scannell applied the finish to mark his 171st Munster cap with a try. Butler kicked his first points of the night and Munster were in the driving seat.
They continued to apply pressure and soon had a second when Gavin Coombes muscled straight through two Dragons defenders, with some help from Nankivell, before Butler pulled his conversion attempt left and wide.
Nash was a constant threat for the home side and with a little over 20 minutes played he raced over from halfway to score Munster’s third try with a fine individual effort. Butler lined up his conversion attempt from a difficult angle but saw his effort sail wide again.
An excellent 50:22 from Shane Daly put the Dragons under pressure again but Ryan Woodman got up in the air to disrupt the Munster lineout.
The Dragons finally registered their first points in the 35th minute when Dane Blacker found Ryan Woodman with an excellent crossfield off the outside of his right boot, the 19-year-old flanker scoring in the corner before Will Reid added the extras.
The Dragons’ strong end to the opening half saw Munster carry a 17-7 lead into the break.
The early stages of the second period saw Munster on the front foot again. Butler’s crossfield allowed Nash to snipe down the right before Dragons centre Jack Dixon did well to get over the ball and force a penalty.
Moments later John Ryan was rampaging down the middle, the big tighthead brought to ground before he spotted Butler’s support run, a Dragons’ knock-on then handing Munster a scrum in the 22.
Munster worked their way forward and the bonus point arrived when second row Tom Ahern – whose late try secured a draw in Benetton last week – crashed over from close range, with Butler’s conversion pushing his side 17 clear with 30 minutes remaining.
Butler and Nankivell then linked up nicely on the left before Munster added a superb fifth – Ahern, Edwin Edogbo and Daly all showing good hands before Craig Casey crossed, the try his last action of the evening as the returning Ireland international made way for Paddy Patterson. Butler knocked over the extras and any hopes the Dragons held of forcing an unlikely comeback were finished.
Then came TMO time. The Dragons saw a potential Bradley Roberts try ruled out after a check upstairs, with the hooker clearly held up. At the opposite end Munster saw a try of their own chalked off, O’Brien denied a fine solo score after the replays proved he stepped out of touch on his way to beating two Dragons defenders en route to the corner.
With the next passage of play, highly-rated backrower Brian Gleeson powered over for his first Munster try. Butler converted before being replaced by Jack Crowley as Rowntree continued to empty his bench.
Referee Sam Grove-White went to his TMO again to review a potential high shot from Nankivell on winger Ashton Hewitt, but was satisfied to keep his cards in his pocket.
The tempo dropped in the final quarter but there was still time for Munster to add a seventh, with the electric Nash getting on the end of Crowley’s lovely grubber before the replacement out-half knocked over the extra two points from a tight angle. Nash then limped out after appearing to injury his knee in scoring the try.
It was a disappointing end to an excellent night’s work for the winger, and while the Dragons added a late penalty try, it was of little consequence as a young, exciting Munster side were full value for a convincing win in Cork.
Munster scorers:
Tries – R Scannell, Coombes, Nash (2), Ahern, Casey, Gleeson
Conversions – Butler [4/6], Crowley [1/1]
Dragons scorers:
Tries – Woodman, penalty try
Conversion – Reid [1/1]
MUNSTER: Shane Daly (Ben O’Connor, 64); Seán O’Brien, Alex Nankivell, Rory Scannell, Calvin Nash; Tony Butler (Jack Crowley, 66), Craig Casey (Paddy Patterson, 55); Kieran Ryan (Mark Donnelly, 71), Diarmuid Barron (Scott Buckley, 64), John Ryan (Stephen Archer, 71); Edwin Edogbo (Brian Gleeson, 55), Tom Ahern; Jack O’Donoghue (capt) (Ruadhán Quinn, 70), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
DRAGONS: Angus O’Brien (Dane Blacker, 3); Corey Baldwin (Ewan Rosser, 53), Steff Hughes (capt), Jack Dixon (Aneurin Owen, 66), Ashton Hewitt; Will Reed, Rhodri Williams; Rhodri Jones (Aki Seiuli, 66), Bradley Roberts (Brodie Coghlan, 66), Luke Yendle (Nathan Evans, 64); Joe Davies, George Nott (Barney Langton-Cryer, 64); Ryan Woodman, James Benjamin (George Young, 71), Taine Basham.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
