Munster U21s finish with a flourish

Munster 31 Connacht 7

You had to feel sorry for Connacht. For some reason, they were playing their fourth match out of five away from home and yet they must still be kicking themselves for ending up at the wrong end of such a scoreline. They looked a well balanced outfit for the most part as Bart Fannin’s coaching methods paid off and Munster were kept at full stretch for much of the opening half.

That said, it was a fine match for the first hour or so as both sides attacked at will and the newly appointed Ireland under-21 coach Michael Bradley must have been reasonably pleased with what he saw.

It looks odds on that Munster’s big number six and captain Stephen Keogh will be part of Bradley’s plans for he had a storming game. First cousins were on opposite sides with Eugene McGovern doing his stuff in the front row for Munster and Greg Thompson shining on the blind side of the scrum for Connacht. After a slow start, Connacht were comfortably the better side in the first half and should never have been 9-7 behind at the break. Barry Keeshan sent over three penalties and Connacht replied with a well-taken try by fullback Niall O’Hara, converted by Colm Glynn.

Conancht dominated for the quarter hour preceding half time, but a combination of their own shortcomings and some outstanding Munster defence foiled their efforts. They were never the same force in the second half and Munster gained control through a fourth penalty by Keeshan followed by a try by flanker Eoin Nihill, converted by Keeshan. UL/Bohemian pair Barry Murphy and Keith Matthews scored late tries for Munster, one of which was

converted by Keeshan.

MUNSTER: P O’Brien (UCC); R Lane (UCC), B Murphy (UL/Bohemians), K Matthews (UL/Bohemians), A Cowley (Cork Constitution); B Keeshan (UCC), F O’Loughlin (Shannon); E McGovern (Old Crescent), D Fogarty (Cork Constitution), J Danagher (Ul/Bohemians), J McCarthy (Clonakilty), R Hartigan (UL/Bohemians), S Keogh (UCC) capt, E Nihill (Garryowen), B O’Connor (Cork Constitution). Replacements: F Cogan (Cork Con) for O’Connor 45 mins; J Rothwell (UCC) for Fogarty 48 mins; C Garvey (UL Bohemians) for Cowley 55 mins; R Callaghan (Garryowen) for McGovern 77 mins.

CONNACHT: N O’Hara (Buccaneers); S Meagher (Buccaneers), C Begley (Corinthians), S Brady (Buccaneers), P O’Sullivan (Buccaneers); C Glynn (Buccaneers), C O’Loughlin (Buccaneers); A Nash (Buccaneers), M Madden (Buccaneers), W Maxwell (Garryowen), T Richardson (Buccaneers), D Kelly (Buccaneers), G Thompson (Galwegians), I Muldoon (Galwegians), J Muldoon (Galwegians, capt). Replacements: J Tormey (Buccaneers) for Richardson 40 mins; S Brosnan (Garryowen) for Thompson 55 mins; D Rowe (Dublin University) for Maxwell 60 mins.

Referee: D Keane (Leinster).