Munster 33
Emirates Lions 3
A WONDERFUL INDIVIDUAL try by Liam Coombes put the cherry on top of a fine Munster victory as Graham Rowntree’s side emphatically overcame an honest challenge by the Emirates Lions to climb into the United Rugby Championship playoff spots.
Coombes’ electrifying effort in the dying minutes sealed a bonus-point victory for the southern province, who beat not only the Lions but the elements in producing a polished, occasionally pulsating performance.
Munster’s physical fitness told late on as West Cork wing Coombes brought Musgrave Park to its feet and Scott Buckley crashed over for the hosts’ fifth with the clock red, while Ben Healy played all 80 minutes at out-half and kicked four conversions in chastening conditions just days after he announced he will depart his native province in the summer.
The weather in Cork this evening was pestilential. The rain blew in horizontally from The Well End of Musgrave Park from an hour before kick-off until the final quarter. But it ruined nothing.
A sold-out crowd of just over 8,000 seemed to take with them a pep in their step from Munster’s dramatic turnaround in Belfast just five days ago. That every one of them got drenched seemed to only add to the kind of guttural atmosphere emanating from the stands as a pivotal league game visited Leeside.
This became a battle between the Lions’ scrum and Munster’s… well, everything else. The hosts stamped their authority on the game as whole, showing further evidence of their attacking progression even with a bar of soap for a ball.
Tries by Scott Buckley (twice), Jack O’Donoghue, Paddy Patterson and the flying Coombes earned Munster five crucial points in the URC table: the southern province have temporarily moved up as far as fifth ahead of their playoff-chasing rivals’ weekend fixtures.
The Lions, who beat Munster on a Johannesburg scorcher last season in the sides’ only other previous meeting, fought valiantly even when the result was beyond them but were unable to prevent their fellow playoff-chasers from claiming the maximum matchday haul.
An early injury blow for the just-fit-again Diarmuid Barron dampened home spirits slightly to begin with. He was replaced at hooker by Buckley on the four-minute mark, moments before visiting 10 Jordan Hendrikse booted the Lions into the lead from 40-odd yards with the rapids at his back.
Munster struck back in kind almost immediately: Healy prodded them into the Lions’ five with a penalty before replacement Buckley nailed his dart to Alex Kendellen at the front of the lineout — no mean feat in the conditions — and dotted down at the back of the maul with the help of an additional heave by a few of Munster’s backs.
Healy’s conversion fell foul of the wind and rain, but so too did Hendrikse’s restart which almost ended up on the Pearse Road.
The Lions, though, had won their last four games outside of South Africa — including away to Ospreys, Cardiff and Edinburgh already this season — and they weren’t long putting themselves in gear.
Their scrum was a serious thorn in Munster’s side throughout — beginning in the first quarter when, after Buckley’s try, they held Munster hostage to their own line and to the patience of referee Hollie Davidson for several minutes.
During the third five-metre scrum of a sustained Lions assault, the home pack held firm and fantastic Munster defence forced their visitors back as far as the 22′. Ivan van Rooyen’s men eventually swung left to the pacy Edwill van der Merwe but his progress was halted when the Lions were pinged for going off their feet on their own ball. Cue elation in the stands.
In this brilliantly back-and-forth first half, a subsequent spell of Munster pressure was initially thwarted as the Lions did a ‘Munster vs Chabal 2006′ on Gavin Coombes, driving him out of their 22′. But an incisive pick-and-go by skipper Jack O’Donoghue on the opposite side sparked Munster’s second try. O’Donoghue fed scrum-half Paddy Patterson who was held short, but the Waterford man himself buried over a couple of phases later to punctuate his own strong work.
Healy split the posts with his conversion from the right-hand touchline and Munster led 12-3 with an elemental disadvantage.
Less ideal, however, was that they were forced into a second substitution just after the half-hour mark: loosehead Josh Wycherley, seemingly carrying a rib complaint, was replaced by Dave Kilcoyne.
Last week’s player of the match Jack Crowley was rested for tonight’s encounter. He was the first to take his seat in the players’ section of the main stand prior to kick-off but there was a steward’s inquiry into his identity before he could get comfortable. Crowley politely explained that he is, actually, a player. He didn’t have the wristband to prove it but a couple of young selfie-hunters successfully argued his case.
In his place at out-half was Healy, who confirmed midweek that he’s off to Edinburgh next season but, in the same statement, said he would do everything in his power for Munster to help Munster to succeed before he goes. It was illustrated not only in his performance but in his demeanour: As the clock ticked towards half-time and Munster just about held their own in a midfield scrum, Healy sprinted from his spot in the defensive line to join his forwards before a reset, offering every one of them a slap on the back and encouragement which beat even the incessant rattle of rain for volume.
His side took a nine-point advantage into the sheds and would return with the wind at their backs.
It was the Lions who first made noise in the second half, however. Morne van den Berg made a burst and, for a moment, seemed home and hosed only for the influential O’Donoghue to force the scrum-half into a spillage as he chased him into the Munster 22′.
Tonight’s player of the match John Hodnett carried powerfully throughout and he slalomed into the Lions’ 22′ shortly afterwards. From there, carries by Malakai Fekitoa and a couple of forwards took Munster under the sticks but the Lions did brilliantly to hold up Kendellen and avoid conceding a third try.
Munster built again from the ensuing goal-line drop-out and wonderful link-up play between Hodnett, O’Donoghue and Paddy Patterson took them back to within inches of the line. They were pinged for holding on, however, as the Johannesburg side again defended their den.
Red waves continued to crash upon South African shores, though, and in the end, Munster’s third try was fairly straightforward. After Rory Scannell’s wonderfully floated pass to Liam Coombes gave the hosts another platform on the Lions’ 22′, Paddy Patterson sniped and waltzed one to the house, with Healy extending the lead to 19-3 from under the sticks.
Munster had just under half an hour to find a bonus-point score and the Lions were beginning to struggle for exit routes in the conditions.
Meanwhile, home favourite Pa Campbell was introduced at fullback for Mike Haley who was rapturously beckoned in out of the rain, a moment’s appreciation from the Cork audience for his career-best form this season.
The Lions refused to concede defeat even at 16 points down. A huge defensive set in midfield forced Munster into coughing up possession and Van der Merwe again took some stopping down the left wing. On the next phase in-field, however, Kendellen drove a dagger into opposing hearts as he picked the perfect body position and won a jackal penalty which was greeted like a try.
The rain became less determined heading into the final quarter, coinciding with the first real lull in proceedings beneath it.
On the other side that brief hush, the Lions won another scrum penalty and attacked from a lineout on the 22′ but spilled the ball forward off first phase. At that point, Van Rooyen’s men could have been forgiven for heading for their hotel but, trailing Munster by three points in the URC table with a game in hand, it was paramount that they denied the home side a try-scoring bonus point at the very least.
A huge penalty turnover by Dan Goggin in Lions’ territory on 72 minutes afforded Munster a huge chance to claim it by way of a five-metre lineout but expectation turned to exhalation in the stands when Buckley’s lineout to the middle sneaked astray.
Then came a collective inhalation as Liam Coombes retreated to collect a Lions clearance kick between the visitors’ 22′ and 10-metre line and swiveled back in-field. The 25-year-old Skibb man broke the line and bounced one defender, bursting diagonally from right to left past flailing arms and ailing chests before bringing the house down at Musgrave Park as he dove over for Munster’s bonus-point score.
Healy duly converted, and he did so again when Buckley piled over for Munster’s fifth, and his second, to drop the mic after an impressive performance by the home side.
Scorers for Munster:
- Tries: Scott Buckley (2), Jack O’Donoghue, Paddy Patterson, Liam Coombes
- Pens:
- Cons: Ben Healy (4/5)
Scorers for Emirates Lions:
- Tries:
- Pens: Jordan Hendrikse (1/1)
- Cons:
Munster:
- 15. Mike Haley
- 14. Liam Coombes
- 13. Malakai Fekitoa
- 12. Rory Scannell
- 11. Shane Daly
- 10. Ben Healy
- 9. Paddy Patterson
- 1. Josh Wycherley
- 2. Diarmuid Barron
- 3. Roman Salanoa
- 4. Jean Kleyn
- 5. Gavin Coombes
- 6. Jack O’Donoghue (captain)
- 7. John Hodnett
- 8. Alex Kendellen
Replacements:
- 16. Scott Buckley
- 17. Dave Kilcoyne
- 18. Stephen Archer
- 19. Cian Hurley
- 20. Jack O’Sullivan
- 21. Conor Murray
- 22. Dan Goggin
- 23. Patrick Campbell
Emirates Lions:
- 15. Quan Horn
- 14. Stean Pienaar
- 13. Henco van Wyk
- 12. Marius Louw (Captain),
- 11. Edwill van der Merwe
- 10. Jordan Hendrikse
- 9. Morne van den Berg
- 1. JP Smith
- 2. PJ Botha
- 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye
- 4. Ruan Venter
- 5. Darrien Landsberg
- 6. Jarod Cairns
- 7. Emile van Heerden
- 8. Emmanuel Tshituka
Replacements:
- 16. Michael van Vuuren
- 17. Morgan Naude
- 18. Ruan Smith
- 19. Willem Alberts
- 20. Sibusiso Sangweni
- 21. Andre Warner
- 22. Gianni Lombard
- 23. Manuel Rass
Match Officials
- Referee: Hollie Davidson
- AR 1: Andrew Cole
- AR 2: Sam Holt
- TMO: Sam Grove-White
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