Munster 10
Glasgow Warriors 7
MUNSTER HAD TO withstand a late Glasgow rally before securing a hard-earned win which keeps their hopes of a home semi-final in the Pro12 very much on the cards.
It was far from a vintage display from the Champions Cup semi-finalists against a side which bowed out of Europe last week and were desperate to stay in the hunt for a Pro12 knockout place.
Munster led 7-0 end at the end of a gruelling opening half which saw the home side lose out-half Tyler Bleyendaal to injury with Glasgow centre Alex Dunbar and hooker Fraser Brown also forced to go off.
Glasgow’s hopes of laying down an early marker were destroyed when Bleyendaal forced an excellent turnover as Warriors tried to clear their lines from a five-metre scrum.
The initial forays at the visitors’ line were repelled but then former All Black Francis Saili and ex-Springbok Jaco Taute, starting together in the centre for the first time, combined and while Darren Sweetnam was stopped short, the ball was recycled and loosehead James Cronin pounced.
Bleyendaal added the conversion from the left to complete the impressive start by Rassie Erasmus’ men. But they had to be content with that 7-0 lead at the break as both sides battled it out in a tough encounter which saw tempers boil over on a few occasions.
Munster were able to deal with anything Glasgow could throw at them, with Andrew Conway dealing with a few aerial threats in addition to stopping Lee Jones in his tracks in a rare Warriors’ opening down the right.
Munster drafted in Peter O’Mahony and then Donnacha Ryan — for probably his final act in a Munster jersey in Cork — and piled on the pressure in the second-half.
TMO Neil Hennessy was kept busy, ruling out efforts from Jack O’Donoghue and Ronan O’Mahony before a penalty won against the head on a five-metre scrum was converted by Rory Scannell to make it 10-0 going into the final quarter.
But Glasgow were given a lifeline eleven minutes from time when a chip from Hogg bounced unkindly for Conway and the Warriors full-back collected to score, with Finn Russell converting and suddenly it was 10-7.
However, Munster held their nerve in the closing minutes for a priceless victory.
Scorers
Munster
Try: James Cronin
Penalty: Rory Scannell 1 / 1
Conversion: Tyler Bleyendaal 1 / 1
Glasgow Warriors
Try: Stuart Hogg
Conversion: Finn Russell 1 / 1
Munster: Andrew Conway; Darren Sweetnam, Francis Saili, Jaco Taute, Ronan O’Mahony (Simon Zebo ’75); Tyler Bleyendaal (Rory Scannell ’9), Duncan Williams; James Cronin (Dave Kilcoyne ’43), Rhys Marshall (Niall Scannell ’50), Stephen Archer (John Ryan ’50); Dave O’Callaghan, Billy Holland; Jean Deysel (Peter O’Mahony ’43), Conor Oliver, Jack O’Donoghue (Donnacha Ryan ’54).
Glasgow Warriors: Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Nick Grigg (Rory Hughes ’62), Alex Dunbar (Peter Horne ’17), Lee Jones; Finn Russell, Ali Price (Henry Pyrgos ’70); Gordon Reid (Alex Allan ’54), Fraser Brown (Pat MacArthur ’22), Sila Puafisi (D’arcy Rae ’46); Brian Alainu’uese (Scott Cummings ’67), Jonny Gray; Rob Harley, Ryan Wilson (Chris Fusaro ’54), Adam Ashe.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
