O’Driscoll immense as Munster go top again
In a win that puts Munster back atop the table, leap frogging Leinster, the tale of this one is quickly told.
With captain Mick O’Driscoll leading by example with a man-of-the-match performance in the second-row, the hard-working Munster pack held their own in the tight and in the loose, a dodgy lineout performance the only real blip; the half-back partnership of Peter and Paul, Stringer and Warwick, controlled matters from the base of ruck, maul and scrum; the backs indulged themselves in several impressive passages of pretty passing, greasy ball and all, winger Ciarán O’Boyle’s first-half try probably the epitome of that.
But most impressive, however, was the sight of all 15 working their boots off in an outstanding display of cohesive top-level tackling. And this was tackling with real intent, tackling with a message — we don’t care that we’re without our eight starting Irish internationals, we don’t give a damn about those several other front-line players missing through injury. We are Munster, and we will not be beaten.
And this was a game in which Munster could very easily have tanked it. Away from home, miserable conditions, aware that most of them won’t be in the picture when the big guns return, yet not a shirker in sight, 100% effort in every position. The second half was when that effort was most obvious; having turned with a slim 13-6 lead, courtesy of O’Boyle’s try, against two James Arlidge penalties for the Dragons, Munster now faced into the elements.
For 22 minutes — 10 of them down to 14 men after the sin-binning of prop Darragh Hurley — they held out, kept their line intact despite a couple of very close calls. Then in the 63rd minute, a second sin-binning, Alan Quinlan seeing yellow from referee Alan Lewis for a slightly premature but possibly try-saving tackle on Dragons’ Jason Tovey. Given that he had been having yet another superb outing, Quinlan’s loss should have been a major blow, and with Arlidge adding the penalty points, thus cutting the deficit to four (13-9), the advantage should now certainly have been with the Dragons.
It didn’t work out that way. One moment all hands to the pump as Munster defended desperately inside their own 22, the next it was serious attacking position, a scrum on the Dragons’ five-metre line, the result of a terrific kick and chase downfield by winger Kieran Lewis, then a blockdown of the resultant attempted clearance kick by the Dragons.
Substitute winger Anthony Horgan fell in as a more than adequate blindside, taking the place of Quinlan in the scrum, but moments later, after several phases in tight, Anthony was back on his spot on left wing, spotted by Warwick, who switched play to the blindside and sent him flying for the corner. As he had done for O’Boyle’s try, Warwick converted from the touchline, putting Munster 20-9 ahead — game over.
“Rodney Parade is always a tough place to come and with this win plus the bonus-point win over Edinburgh, nine points from a possible 10 during the Six Nations is a massive achievement,” beamed Munster coach Tony McGahan. “We had 18 players out for the Edinburgh game, 19 missing this evening, so this was a huge test of our depth and our character.”
A test also of the travelling Munster support; again there was also a sizeable crew in Newport, led by a vocal and enthusiastic group from Tralee RFC.
Support or not, this group of players seem to perform in any circumstances. Speaking of the command displays from Stringer and Warwick, Mick O’Driscoll didn’t attempt to disguise the frustration that must be felt by most of those who lined out on Saturday, yet there was never any doubt that they were going to give their best.
“Paul had a great game again, as had Strings — the ultimate pro. They got things moving, but then again you won’t expect anything less from them. Paul is a huge part of our team, it must be disappointing for him — and a lot of us who played tonight are in the same position — that when the international boys are around we don’t get a lot of game-time, and it’s no different for Paul. He’s a superb player, not too many teams in Europe for which he wouldn’t be starting, and the same applies to Peter.”
And yet there are always new standards to be met, this time a misfiring line-out giving cause for angst.
“It’s not down to any individual, it’s down to the collective; it’s something that’s been wavering all season — good days, bad days — and as a group we really have to improve in that regard. But I don’t want to give the impression that we’re unhappy — we’re delighted to get the four points.”
MUNSTER: Denis Hurley; K. Lewis, K. Earls, L. Mafi, C. O’Boyle (1T); P. Warwick (2P 2C), P. Stringer; Darragh Hurley, D. Fogarty, T. Buckley; M. O’Driscoll (c), D. Ryan; A. Quinlan, D. Leamy, N. Williams.
Replacements: T. Ryan (Williams temp 54-59, Buckley 59); B. Holland (Quinlan 74); N. Ronan (Williams 59); A. Horgan (1T, O’Boyle inj. 50).
DRAGONS J. Tovey; K. Morgan, R. Sidey, A. Smith, M. Thomas; J. Arlidge (3P), W. Evans; N. Hall, T. Willis (c), R. Thomas; S. Tomes, A. Hall; J. Bearman, R. Parks, G. Webb.
Replacements: G. Robinson (Thomas 76); L. Evans (Webb 73); G. Maule (Arlidge 69); R. Lewis (Evans 69).
Referee: A. Lewis (Leinster).
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