Munster 22
Connacht 16
Rob Murphy at Thomond Park
The league’s best team got their expected win against Connacht at Thomond Park without many of their front line players. Munster were Munster on Friday night, tenacious, unglamorous and effective but for a change in this fixture, we got a different Connacht. That’s something.
The last gasp bonus point try and conversion garnered by the men from the west was something very different in a fixture where the province hadn’t offered a single positive note for over eight years. A spectacular try that started in their own 22 with no time on the clock and ended with the world famous respectful crowd at Thomond Park booing the Connacht team for having the cheek, the audacity, to stand up to the men in red and deliver a massive score.
Off to one the side, as Dave Heffernan charged over the Munster try line after a brilliantly timed pass from Fionn Carr, Keith Earls was laying a volley of punches on Andrew Browne and getting away with it. It was that kind of night. Munster were not impressed with Connacht’s refusal to buckle.
When Pat Lam was asked about the eleven year run without a win away from home against Irish provinces before the start of the season, he embraced the question and acknowledged the importance of tackling the situations.
He talked about consistency in performances in these fixtures. He pointed to the disparity of budgets and talked about the need for his group to enjoy their rugby and feel part of a squad that scraps for everything to help negate that difference.
Last season Connacht didn’t score a single point in the three fixtures, this season they have left Dublin and Limerick with bonus points and some very disaffected and grumbling locals in the background. Matt O’Connor unleashed a tirade about the western province in the post game press conference back in October, Munster’s moaning was more directed at referee Dudley Phillips on the pitch.
All of this should not hide the main facts. Connacht were not far off full strength, Munster were without first team regulars Casey Laulala, Ian Keatley, Conor Murray, Damien Varley, BJ Botha, Donnacha Ryan, Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahoney and delivered a steady display backed by the boot of JJ Hanrahan who ended up with all of their 22 points.
Yet while the under-strength opponent in theory should provide Connacht with a better opportunity, history and facts show that is virtually never the case. In their last 34 games away from home on this island over eleven years Connacht have lost 33 and drawn one. In none of those games have they finished as strongly as this. At some point they’ll have to win one of these but this was about as good as it gets without doing that.
Dudley Phillips was refereeing his 39th professional game and was talked about far too much afterwards. His long stoppages for reviews of foul play by the TMO frustrated many, Pat Lam was particularly bemused by his referral of one incident on the recommendation of Munster captain James Coughlan saying he “didn’t realise that was in the protocols.” It was not a good night for the official.
Early doors, Philips’ chose not to go upstairs for a review of a knock on in a lineout that denied Nathan White a try. The Tighthead prop had collected the loose ball and bulldozed through Hanrahan. It was debatable whether he would have scored if the whistle hadn’t been blown but it was a miss call that wasn’t scrutinised in a way consistent with everything else.
Connacht led 6-3 after the first quarter of action. Two Dan Parks penalties in response to Hanrahan’s early score. The game turned on Munster’s only try. Slow ball from the base of a breakdown that was under huge pressure put Dan Parks under pressure and he conjured up a bizarre crossfield kick in his own 22 that was countered up to the Connacht line and paved the way for an easy Hanrahan score.
Parks struggled again here, emerging fly half Jack Carty wasn’t considered as cover in his position at any point - when he came on, it was at full back - meaning that without the currently injured Craig Ronaldson, Connacht appear to have only one ready made option in the ten jersey.
By halftime, Munster led by seven. After the break they stretched that lead up to 13 with two more penalties from the superbly accurate young fly half Hanrahan. The first of the half came after Frank Murphy crowned a nightmare display with a sloppy sin binning. The Cork man had a bad day at the office and will want to bury this as quickly as possible.
The kick that made it 19-6 came after more sin binnings. This time both Nathan White and James Cronin went after the TMO was requested to review a flare up. White threw two slaps to the face of the Cork prop incensing the home crowd but he Dolphin scrummager deserved his place in the bin for the needless taunting that kicked it all off.
Several Munster players including Donncha O’Callaghan were visibly remonstrating with the referee to show the red card to White, a strange sight on any rugby pitch and another clear sign of the agitated state of a home side that were lacking cohesion and accuracy, on the back foot at scrum time and ruffled.
Kieran Marmion’s introduction for the last half hour helped turn the tide for the visitors who had a penalty from Parks with 20 minutes to go before Hanrahan kicked his sixth penalty in response. The finish from Connacht came out of nowhere and included. over seven phases and 90 metres of gains.
John Muldoon, Andrew Brown, Matt Healy, Denis Buckley, Robbie Henshaw, Marmion and Carr all had leading roles in a try that has to be the among the best they’ve ever scored in this competition with the young Heffernan finishing after having a hand in the build up. Parks had work to do on the conversion but held his nerve as only he can and Lam’s men went home with something.
Munster: D Hurley; K Earls, J Murphy, J Downey, R O’Mahony; JJ Hanrahan, D Williams; J Cronin, N Scannell, J Ryan; D O’Callaghan, D Foley; P Butler, S Dougall, J Coughlan (capt.)
Replacements: CJ Stander for Dougall (47 mins), A Cotter for Butler (52-58 mins), S Archer for Ryan (59 mins), G Hurley for Williams (59 mins), B Holland for Foley (68 mins), I Dineen for Murphy (68 mins), G Slattery for Scannell (75 mins), J Holland for Hanrahan (76 mins), Cotter for Cronin (79 mins).
Connacht: G Duffy; F Carr, R Henshaw, E Griffin, M Healy; D Parks, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, J Harris-Wright, N White; M Kearney, C Clarke; A Browne, J Muldoon, E McKeon.
Replacements: D Buckley for Wilkinson (49 mins), R Ah You for Browne (52-58 mins), K Marmion for Murphy (53 mins), D Leader for Griffin (56 mins), A Muldowney for Kearney (56 mins), G Naoupu for McKeon (60 mins), Ah You for White (60 mins), Griffin for Duffy (65 mins), J Carty for Henshaw (75 mins), D Heffernan for Harris-Wright (75 mins)
Referee: D Phillips (IRFU).
