McGahan has plenty to ponder after defeat

NEW ZEALAND signing Nick Williams made a low key debut while Duncan Williams, Munster’s scrum half in waiting, had a satisfactory outing in a rather lack-lustre A provincial game at Donnybrook yesterday.

There was certainly nothing on display to make either of the provincial coaches, Michael Cheika or Tony McGahan, too excited, although Munster’s boss came in positive mood and left, despite the defeat, with asimilar feeling.

“It was a difficult game for both Munster and Leinster, but there certainly are some things you can get out of it.

“Looking at individuals, you can say that Tim and Dave Ryan should be pleased at their efforts; young Dave Foley was exceptional and Paul Warwick has been sound. Looking at Foley (20), it’s nice to see some guys of his age coming through,” said McGahan.

His Leinster counterpart Cheika also looked upon this as an experiment and was slightly more pleased with the outcome. “It’s always nice to win, but this was much more about the result for both sides; it was about development for individuals and the team.”

Leinster won, and probably deserved to win, but they had to rely on a “complimentary” try to keep them ahead on the score board. Fergus McFadden kicked them into the lead with a penalty after 11 minutes before Paul Warwick equalised over 20 minutes later.

Then Munster captain James Coughlan, who had enjoyed a fruitful opening spell, failed to take the kick off allowing Leinster to attack and score through Sean O’Brien, with McFadden kicking the conversion.

As Munster led their own assault in the minutes leading up to half time, they might well have been awarded a penalty try but instead the referee sent Coughlan to the sin bin for obstruction — no more than 20 metres from the Leinster line, an appalling decision by referee Michael Black that came back to haunt Munster.

They hit the ground running at the start of the second half but a move broke down six minutes in and Leinster capitalised through the adventurous Sean O’Brien, who then sent Chris Keane away for a try that McFadden converted to secure a 17-3 lead.

Munster did strike back and managed to score a quality try from Ciaran O’Boyle in the corner before Warwick added a late penalty. Leinster held on to that 17-11 lead despite a huge late Munster effort, the southern province finally running out of time on Leinster’s line.

LEINSTER A: F Jones; G Brown, E O’Malley, F McFadden, S Keogh; I, Nacewa, C Keane; R McCormack, J Fogarty, J Hagan; C Jowitt, T Hogan; K McLaughlin, S Keogh (captain), S O’Brien.

Replacements: B Blaney for Fogarty, P O’Donohoe for Nacewa, both ht; K Tonetti for O’Malley, 55; M Morris for Brown, 57; R Murphy for Hagan, 59; D Moore for Keane, 77.

MUNSTER A: D Hurley; A Horgan, K Lewis, E Ryan, C O’Boyle; P Warwick, M, Prendergast; D Ryan, D Fogarty, T Ryan, M Melbourne, D Foley, B Holland, J Coughlan (captain), J O’Sullivan.

Replacements: N Williams for Holland, D Williams for Prendergast, both 53; J Manning for Ryan, I Nagle for Melbourne, both 58; M Essex for Fogarty, 62; S Deasy for Horan, 66.

Referee: M Black (IRFU).