MUNSTER SUPPORTERS SPENT much of today’s interpro derby meeting with Ulster worrying that their team were going to lose top spot in the URC table but after a sticky first-half performance, the home side finished strong to edge their visitors and secure pole position ahead of the knockouts.
Graham Rowntree’s side trailed for most of the game but a big effort from the Munster bench helped them seize control and claim a 29-24 bonus-point win which secured a home quarter-final date with Ospreys on Friday.
“We don’t do things easy, do we?” said Rowntree.
“Credit to them, they came to play and grew into the game. We made some individual errors there, they capitalised, they scored off them. Half time was about staying calm and they came back in the third quarter, a missed tackle from John Hodnett and they were through.
“We found a way, it’s an overused expression, but we found a way to win the game. The bench was big again. When you go 6/2 and lose a back in the first half, we were still brave around the 45 minute mark bringing four forwards on.
“I couldn’t really bring Conor [Murray] on any earlier than we did, but overall, I think it worked, the punch that our bench gave us.
It will stand to us. There’s plenty of bits to review, but a lot of our errors were individual errors, and then it was composure in the last 10 metres of the field.
“I’m delighted with our attitude there, we went for the corner, mauled them over, our scrum was in good nick and we used it as a good platform for penalties. It will stand to us.”
Munster will now welcome the Ospreys to Limerick on Friday night, knowing they will enjoy home advantage right through the knockouts should they advance.
“We have a lot of respect for what Toby [Booth] has done there. As a club what he’s done, there, the challenges around availability and budget. They’re a sticky team,” Rowntree added.
“That’s the next game, we’re at the play-offs and finished the league at the top. I’m immensely proud of that as a club. I think we were 11th on 2 January, we had our injuries around Christmas, and picked up 44 of a possible 45 points since that Connacht game.
“We’ve been away in South Africa, I’m really pleased with how we’ve finished up. We don’t get a trophy for it, but where we’ve got to, I’m immensely proud.
“We go to the play-offs now, can’t wait.”
Rowntree added that the initial prognosis on Rory Scannell “doesn’t look good” after the center suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury towards the end of the first half. Munster will provide a further update early next week.
Meanwhile, Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said that while he was proud of his team’s efforts in Limerick he was disappointed not to come away with a better result.
“I loved my team’s performance, I thought they were brilliant,” Murphy said.
“Came down here, went after Munster from the word go and really stuck in the game. Lost our way a little bit in the second half, we just lost control of the ball, there was a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way and then Munster just got back on top, and I suppose the home town sort of feel just barely got them over the line.”
The defeat means Ulster will now face a tough assignment away to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
“Performances are great, but at this level you’ve got to win games,” Murphy added.
We would have loved to come here and won and gone into that game next week, it would probably have been Glasgow, and gone in on the back of a win.
“Obviously we haven’t done that but we’re very early on our journey as a team and the great thing is the signs of how we’re going to be, becoming a tough team to play against and a team that looks after the ball much better than what we were doing a couple of weeks back.”
Ulster lost both Ethan McIlroy and Stuart McCloskey to injury before kick-off but the pair could come back into contention next weekend. McIlroy suffered a back spasm in the warm-up today while McCloskey failed to shake off a groin strain that had been troubling him across the week.
Kieran Treadwell suffered a calf injury today while Alan O’Connor failed a HIA.
Murphy also refused to be drawn on an early incident which saw RG Snyman escape a card following a high hit on Will Addison.
“I don’t really have any thoughts on it. I didn’t really see it. The referee was going through his due process. I don’t really have a comment on it.”
If its half as good as the last time, we’ll be in for a treat
Well done Clare… As a Cork man this is a low day for us but ye deserve it. JBM has a lot if work to do on our mid field and half back line… We were shocking for periods in that game. We’re young … We’ll be back!
lets hope Clare walk it today .. it would be great to see them win
Hurling wins out in the end
yes, agree it was a great year for hurling.
Tough to watch as a Cork fan. Clare look very good, but it must be very enjoyable for the neutral.
Brilliant game to watch as a neutral, more of the same please..
Come on the little fish
Ref shud go specs avers all Clare frees.
Captain the only reason cork are playing today is that they’ve benefitted from poor refereeing decisions.and that was never a free for nashes goal maybe he should go to spec savers
Poison dwarf red card
I’ve been sayin it the last few weeks cork were lucky to have got this far.great great game but the best team have won.corks luck with the referees ran out today.well done Clare
Justice is done. Great win for the banner against the 16 men.
We will never hear the end of that annoying little arrogant bollix of a manager bloke
Or me either bird
Fair play to Davy. Outfoxed JBM both games. Love him or hate him, his an all Ireland winner!
Did he outfox him the first day? I thought it was a draw.
Haha cork were poxed to get a draw the first day, it was all Clare. Finished the job today. Just because it was a draw doesn’t mean he wasn’t outfoxed.
He outfoxed him today Marty that’s all that will be remembered,and corks run of luck thanks to 3 referees
Where you from
Shane O’Donnell take a bow! 20 minute hattrick in his first senior all Ireland!
Mon Clare and beat the frauds!!!!!
Is this your first of many trolling comments today Nelly
Be gone back to the kitchen woman!
Not trolling Barry,just voicing my opinion which differs from yours that’s all kid
Referees keeping up the dodgy decisions for cork this year. Never a free in for Nash’s goal.
You can’t say that here you’ll be accused of trolling
Haha cork fans don’t want it admit the truth. Anyone’s game, hopefully clare can hold on against the 16 men.
They can’t deny who the better team is now.
Nelly get a f€ckin life. Same bull over and over. Obviously spurned by a Cork man/woman with smarts.
Marty it’s not bull.everything I’ve been saying the last few weeks have been facts.dry tour eyes mate dry your eyes buddy
Time the Langer’s took off the blinkers. They are like the united fans, don’t want to admit the truth.
James you talk alot of sense
A fountain of knowledge !
Frauds? Only an unsporting troll like you would say such a thing. You really are a sad and pathetic individual.
Yes frauds that got to the final playing against 14 men and against 16 in the first final.im not trolling they are facts correct me if I’m wrong
Lol. Playing against 16 in the first final? What are you on about? Isn’t that a disadvantage? Never mind. I’m not even going to bother reading it now anyway as it is pretty clear you don’t know much about sport Nelly tbh. Nobody with any real knowledge of sport would an All Ireland final reaching team a fraud, lucky maybe, but not frauds. All the best to you in sports for 2014.
Sorry Marty you seem a bit slow on the uptake.what I meant by 16 men included Brian Gavin the referee in the final who got cork the draw
Sorry but you really are one stupid individual. Read what you said. You said Cork played ‘against’ 16 men the first day and you still can’t get it lol. Just to help you out; surely you are trying to say ‘with’ 16 men. I don’t usually debate with idiots here and you certainly will be the last one.
Magnificent game..fantasy hurling..
Pleasant pre-match interview from Davy Fitz
Not
Had to give away my ticket! Absolutely gutted I won’t be there! Come on the Rebels!
Your better off diarmuid you saved some Money.itd be a waste of money goin the whiole way to dublin to see cork been bet.z
Hope the rebels have more valid points than you Diarmaid! ;-)
We’ve probably watched some of the best hurling and football in the last month than we’ve seen in a long time and that’s something we should all be relishing. Excellent sportsmen.
It’s a great time for hurling. Realistically, in the past 15 years you had to beat Cork, Kilkenny or Tipp to win an all-Ireland. Now with Clare, Limerick, Waterford and Dublin are serious contenders, it makes it very exciting, and very tough to win. Great for the game.
As a Cork man I’m obviously disappointed but have no hesitation in saying the better team won.
Congratulations to both teams, they gave us two displays of outstanding hurling.
john both teams gave outstanding displays pity the ref was so bad.
Cork were given another lifeline by ref again. That was a soft free for their goal . How many steps did Nash take before he struck the ball.
Commentator, just said it three marginal frees all going corks way. Repeat of first day ref keeping cork in the game. Mind you Clare have taken their foot of the pedal here. Clare fella fouled coming out and cork given point. Ref is having a nightmare at the end of the half.
This Ref is a disgrace to the game, Cork are consistently fouling. The Ref is giving everything to Cork. Obviously the GAA want Cork to win. Appalling to watch. Another soft free just given to Cork. Ref has ruined this.
Well Done Clare, Justice was finally served. Robbed the first day and playing Cork and the REF in second game. Poor referring performance by McGrath, kept Cork in the match with some dubious frees, particularly the first one which led to Corks first Goal. It lifted Cork.
agree Seamus,
as a neutral, it was fantastic to see Clare win in the end, despite all the odds.
Great to see teams, outside of the ‘big three’ (Kilkenny/Cork/Tipp) making the break.
C’mon the Banner!!
C’mon Seamus, in a fast-paced hurling match the ref has to make decisions and they can go either way. There were a few decisions that went against Cork too, you have to take the good and the bad. Unless there’s a huge bias, which I’ve rarely, if ever, seen in a game of hurling, it’s bad form and childish to complain about ref decisions
Seamus McKenzie aka Marty Morrissey.
@Annmo, as a neutral I had backed cork to win I thought their cuteness and final experience would help them win. However, Cork benefitted hugely in both games courtesy of the referee a non sending off and quite a number of soft frees in the first half of the drawn game. Today cork were being hurled off the pitch until the ref decided to make name for himself with the soft free that led to Nash taking about 5 steps before he hit the ball. That decision lifted cork and they grew in confidence after that. Panel at half time questioned the decision. Second half cork were throwing themselves to the ground and being rewarded for it.
Finally, I know it is not easy for refs, but cork did get to the final via sending offs in the quarter final and semi final. I would have liked to see a Dublin v Clare final. Makes a change from the usual few that are always in the final.
RTE commentators should have Clare jerseys
Im in anchorage in alaska listening to this electric game on tre online…come on the banner…was at the first but had to go for work…what a game…!
Hopefully Clare can grind out the win. By far the better team. Corks cynical play and manipulation of the rules is bad for hurling.
Cynical?
As has been pointed out before, players have been taking 21s like that for years!
Couldn’t have said it better myself
C’mon ye rebels!
Fair play Clare. Deserved it overall. I think both teams could be around for a few years at this level.
Brilliant game,
well done to Davy Fitz & the lads
Well done Clare. Better team. We’ll be back though. Enjoy it lads
I like to see Clare win it but whoever wins well done to them hope it’s a great game best of luck to both Clare and Cork
Congratulations to clare ! Hard luck sunshiners/rebels and all referees for cork this year ! Up the Dubs and hon the banner
We love that you hate us. Thankfully, we don’t need proxies to support in hurling or football.
The Hill looks deadly, great splash of colour.
Looks better all in blue :)
Agreed ; )
Those 21′s are illegal. Ball hit on 14. Joke!
It’s within the rules Johnny.. they might have to look at it though
Somebody get Michael Duignan a Clare jersey
What a match, what a score, Clare’s day, congrats to all, terrific playing.
Take that Rebels.Up The Banner! Come on Clare
Bloody hell, that was amazing. Loved it. Go on the banner! Delighted for them.
Clare -3pt handicap. Come on clare.
Rumour has it the Cork team have been training with Ronaldo he’s there new diving coach – this ref is a disaster the ref will win the game for Cork
*their
Davy Fitz is a C. U. next. Tues.
Up The Banner
Cork to finish the job tonight
Where’s all the Cork fans gone??? Haha
We’re here. Look up.
Haha not as many as there was all year. Delighted for ye, got big decisions all year. Even more today and still couldn’t win.
Thanks for that. Are you from Clare?
No Colin, a Kilkenny man, delighted that Clare won. Have a great friernd from there. Better team by miles in both games. Cork fans were deluded all year. Any game they won was with huge ref decisions. Got a few more today but at least no red cards for the banner, pulled away in the end.
Funny, watched a few all-Ireland’s with KK that went both ways in the last 14 years. But this is my first time seeing a KK fan worry about the ref. I’ve seen a lot of other county fans giving out about KK and the ref, but I’ve always put that down to poor excuses.
Ah sure that was like in 2009 when shefflin scored the penalty. Said the ref won the game for us. Nothing about the rest of the game. Free count tipp got 18 Kilkenny got 8!! Eoin Kelly was sick tapping over soft frees just like Horgan the last 2 days.
@james. If I was you I’d be more worried about the state of kilkenny hurling. How will they cope in 2014 with the skill levels and pace of clare, cork, Limerick and Dublin. I’d be more concerned about that than sticking the boot in on us cork fans who have been very gracious in defeat
Did the ref win Kilkenny the 2008 final when we scored 3-30??? Kilkenny won 9 All Irelands in 13 years not because of the ref but because they were the greatest team hurling has ever seen. The way Clare hurled this year, they will win a lot more.
Haha Cork fans weren’t too gracious to Kilkenny or Dublin fans in the past few months when they some outrageous ref decisions. All we heard was how great cork were. And im not naive to think Kilkenny will just turn up next year and win another one. Every team has its day, weve had an unreal decade, need to find a few new players and get injuries sorted but delighted for Clare, will be around for a long time.
@james. How exactly weren’t cork fans gracious? Shefflin got two silly yellows. In any case we had the measure of ye that day. He was sent off with us 5 points up. As for the dubs we came across scores much easier prior to the sending off. Today we came up against a superior Clare outfit who fully deserved their win. Don’t think any other side in the country would have got as close to them as we did today. Stay classy you
2 silly yellows?? His sending off was rescinded because it was a joke especially the first one. Even how bad Kilkenny hurled in the first half, if we had a free taker and an umpire who could stick up the white flag for balls over the bar, we would have gone in a point up with a nice breeze behind us in the second half. Cork hurled terrible in the 2nd half that day even wit the extra man, I knew if they came up against a half decent team they wud be beat and thankfully I was right.
@james. Stop talking crap. Ye were well beaten that day by a hungrier and more skillfull team. What’s ifs and maybes. All that matters is the result. A bit like today
Haha so its ok for corks fans to whinge about Horgans sending off against limerick?? Ye were hungrier that day but like I said ye hurled poor with an extra man for 40 minutes, I knew ye wud be beat and backed Clare before the first game to win it out. Great year for cork hurling, enjoy division 1B next year.
@james. Its nice to know your so concerned about us. At least we got a few days out in croker unlike some :-)
U should have stopped in Kilkenny on the way up, we wud have given ye directions to Croker, its been so long since ye were in the final! Hope ye enjoyed it, won’t be there for a while again.
Ah no James we’ve had a few days out courtesy of the hurlers and footballers this year. Im sure I can put away the sat nav. If I’m ever having trouble for directions I’ll be sure to stop in the camoige club in urlingford. I’m sure they’ll point me in the right direction :-)
Ye may stick to the football and forget about the hurling ;)
Nah we like to try our hand at most things. We’re never too far away :-)
Football is only for lads who can’t hurl! I think we do ok for a county of around 40 clubs compared to over 250 in cork.
Yes considering the bulk are junior a/b in the back arse of west cork and play football :-) sorry but today was all about clare and cork. kilkenny didn’t figure in any shape or form ;-) congrats to the banner
Trouble with cork this year alan is the incredible run of games that ye had game changing decisions in your favour ! So its very hard to evaluate how far ye would have got without the assistance of the officials ! However I will admit ye have some heart !
Haha west cork ain’t that big. When the footballers lose, excuse always is that cork is a hurling county, are u saying now its a football county? Cork have underachieved big time in the last 7/8 years, mainly because they weren’t good enough and the usual strike down there every few years when things are going their way. Surely due another one soon! Enjoy the homecoming without Liam.
Played Clare off the field day one, bate off the field by a hungry and fired up Limerick team, beat kilkenny 14 men or not, beat dublin in a cracker and came up against an excellent clare who were a bridge too far. Great year considering where we were in the spring. Uncovered a few great hurlers and this year will stand to them. Just need to sort out our underage structure (maybe copy the clare system) and things will be looking rosy. Not the day for petty digs and point scoring pardon the pun!
U forgot to mention Dublin with 14 men as well!! In fairness ye are on the way back but don’t think ye are as good as ye think ye are even if ye nearly robbed the all Ireland the last day. Good for hurling to have more competition, see ye next year in croker if we get there :)
You sound like a classy dude. Try driving from cork city to adrigole and tell me its not that big. No success due to crap underage set up and not producing lads upto scratch. I’ll be there for the homecoming. The lads gave us a few great days out and done us proud. No qualms about losing. Rebels abu
Ref won it for you v Kk again v the Dubs and nearly stole it for ye vs the banner !
James , does your mammy know you have her phone?
We’re definitely on the way back that’s a sure thing. There was no arrogance on the part of the cork fans throughout the year. Very much a work in progress. Today will only stand to us.
Explain yourself Royston????
@lorcan. Cork were superior to the dubs and cats. Fact
Haha its easy to be superior with an extra man for 40 minutes!! So its ok for cork to go on about the ref when cork had Horgan sent off and went on to lose by 10 points but they won fair and square against Kilkenny?? Typical cork bullshite, delighted ye were beat today. Enjoy division 1B hahaha
Of course they were alan ! But they were assisted by very bad referee decisions ! If both games finished 15 v 15 who knows ??? And we never will ! But the general consensus outside cork is that ye got game changing calls in your favour at crucial times all the way and including today . Can you be big enough to admit it ?
I don’t think Lorcan a Cork man is going to admit that even when everyone else can see it.
Easy, you have you’re mams phone unknowns to her!!!
With an answer like that, its past ur bedtime u clown. I can hear ur mammy callin u, be a good little boy and do what she says!
I’m even surprised u have network coverage in that village!!
Unlike most of cork we all have it in Kilkenny, that must be why ur so slow to respond, coverage must be a little slow down there
Head in the sand ! James ah well god love them !
Awe poor Roystan gone to bed like a good little boy.
U gotta feel for em tonite. Ya rite :)
@james can I ask why you dislike cork so much? I work in the south east and get on great with Kilkenny, Waterford and tipp folk. Never came across a bitter arse like you :) cork made it to an all Ireland and Kilkenny were no where to be seen. League means very little, sure ye won it and look how far ye got in championship! Not a dig at decent kk people many a great night and many great friends from there!
Sad little boy!!
Seems the question will remain unanswered ! Can we take it then that rebels agree that they had the lions share of decisions post Limerick match ?
Referees make decisions. Cork were 5 points ahead of cats at time of shefflins sending off. Were also beating the dubs at the time of o dwyers sending off. How can you logically say cork would have lost? We made the final, lads done us proud. If I was you I’d be more worried about yere own counties exploits because I sure as hell don’t worry about ye!
Ye were 8 pts down today and came back and levelled ! With great heart and some dodgy ref calls ! However its hurling 5 pts is nothing v the cats and the Dubs had the measure of ye in 2 nd half !! Until like before the referee came to your rescue ! Ye were robbed v Limerick with that sending off and you have a good team ! But its plainly obvious to anyone outside cork that ye got game changing decisions in your favour !
Not one cork fan after the match or even now on this admits they got everything going against Kilkenny e.g shefflins red, Shane o Neill not given red, 2 legitimate kk points waved wide etc All we read was how great cork were, I knew they weren’t a great team and clare proved that over the last 3 weeks. Iv great time for cork fans, were very gracious when kk hammered em in 2008, I met em in Barry’s hotel, never seen fans like em to take defeat but its a diff story on this site, I’m glad ye got yere just desserts today.
Actually you were 1 pt down V Dublin when O’Dwyer got sent off. The subsequent free levelled it. Dublin had turned the game from being fortunate not to be further behind at half time to gaining the upper hand, THAT decision changed the momentum at that stage. Anyone’s call who would have won but still yet another poor ref call that went in yer favour. Similarly today a few bad call brought ye back into the game before half time.
Would you ever get over yourself! Final score is all that matters. And we beat ye on the day in question :-) hope your a bit more mature when your trying to flog poor man’s volkswagens :)
Haha even for u that’s a little embarrassing! As u say final result matters and cork got relegated and clare are all Ireland champions ;) hope the mighty Carlow don’t prove too big a challenge for ye next year.
So you still won’t answer the question ? Ill give to you again !!!! Here we go !! Do you or your fellow rebels admit that yiu got very favourable decisions post Limerick ? Nb I worded the question a little different than last time to try and garner a response !
Like I said the league doesn’t count. Look at the teams who contested the relegation playoff. Puts the league into perspective don’t you think :) embarrassing? Nah you’ve embarrassed yourself with all your bile and bitterness you’ve shown towards cork….sure we shouldn’t matter, sure ye’re only division 1b boy. I stand corrected about the o dwyer sending off.
Cork don’t make the decisions for the referee . can only beat what’s in front of you. In sport you take whatever breaks you’ll get.
So you still won’t answer the question ! Sums it up really ! Heres one for you ! As a Dub we got a gift off ref in football final 20 11 v kerry for cluckos winner ! Now its not hard to be objective !
As a Kilkenny man I have to say we’re a great bunch on a nights out but let me put this to you about the league. …….. do you think that Cork didn’t give their everything to win it when they played in it and do you not thind that those 30 guys on the Cork panel wouldn’t like to have ended the year winning something be it the All Ireland, Munster Final or the league????? So don’t delude yourself thinking the league doesn’t matter because to every county hurler finishing a hard trained and fought hurling year with nothing really hurts believe me!
Cork had 15 men & the referee & still they lost.hahahahahahaha.no sympathy whatsoever for them.UP THE BANNER!
Stay classy.
I’d have sympathy for all the sheep in Clare tonight.
I shouldnt laugh Dave but that is a funny comment.
While I’m more of a football fan and in Croke park last week, hurling out shone football by a country mile (Dubs v Kerry apart) this year and next year will be the no different. There’s at least 7 teams (
Clare, cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, Galway, Limerick, Waterford) that could win it next year and it will be unreal.
Brilliant game by both Cork and Clare. Pity the Referee was so bad , made some truly poor decisions against Clare
@Annmo I am a neutral also but was slightly leaning towards the red corner before the game. I am with Seamus on this I thought the referee was appalling. He looked as though he was trying to keep the score close before half time by giving Cork some very soft frees. He continued in the 2nd half with some outrageous decisions. I am not surprised Davy Fitz nearly lost the plot although it seemed to be another incident a few seconds beforehand that annoyed him. It will be interesting to see the free count. If Jim Gavin Felt they were playing the ref last week I can only imagine what Davy Fitz is thinking this week. The refs shouldn’t be above criticism ,players deserve better.
Congratulations to Davy and his lads today and hard luck to a great cork team too! Couldn’t see it as I don’t get any streams here in the Caribbean but got the minute to minute updates!
But when you play cork you have to beat the ref aswell !
Can it be streamed online?
I think it can be I know on the rte player it is hope this is some help :)
What time does it start?
5pm throw-in.
Fukc the rebels.ye can sing the banks of my own lovely lee now.lol
Well done Martin. Number four is always special.
Of all that hurling strong holds in the country not involved in the all Ireland I agree with why a man from Westmeath reffed it, its a hard job for the best of us but if the ref came from Tipp Kilkenny Galway and so on where hurling is the first game some decisions wouldnt gone the way they did. As for Clare weldone ye out played Cork with ye’re fast attacking hurling just a pity Davy acted like a prat at the end by not being dignified in Clares amazing win and going straight over to JBM to shake his hand, no Davy had to throw himself on the ground as if he had just been spared from a death sentence and then run ti his players and therefore leaving it down to JBM to fund him on the field to congratulate Davy on the win. Just look back Cody and Sheedy when they won, of course they were delighted but the first thing the did was go and shake the hands od the losing management teams, but no not Davy, he made sure he got his tv and puotos sots first, Mario Rosenstock will have a years supply out of that now. Clare have fantastic hurlers and were outstanding yesterday just a pity Davy made a prat of himself once again. And just ti finish with all my “Cork friends” who slated me over beating kilkenny…. as I said then and I am going tonsay again…..just coz ye beat kilkenny ye still hadn’t won anything and guess what ye still haven’t. Honours this year 1 Clare all ireland champs, 2 kilkenny league champs, 3 Dublin Lnstr champs & 4 Limerick Mnstr champs….. Cork NOTHING! !
Why do we let a westmeath man ref an allireland
What an absolutely stupid comment!
You got the scores wrong at 62 mins! How did Cork go from 16 to 13 in the points!?
They say that luck and bad refereeing decisions even themselves out over a season, not so this year as far as Cork were concerned. Having said that its not Corks fault that they kept getting the rub of the green, luckily though, for the ultimate integrity of the game and in the name of sport natural talent won out in the end. As a neutral I’m delighted for Clare, they thoroughly deserved the win, no arguments.