Rampant Ronan fuels Reds resurrection

THIS was a whole lot better than Munster had managed a week previously in Glasgow, but they were still far from impressive in defeating Cardiff Blues in front of a half-full Thomond Park last evening.

It was a poor quality game for the most part, but at least the champions opened their Magners League account with what in the end was a relatively clear-cut scoreline in their favour.

If nothing else, the encounter proved that the shortcomings at the set-piece so evident in their first competitive outing amounted to little more than a glitch. John Hayes was only on the pitch for the first half but he helped to steady the scrum in very apparent fashion, while he also assisted Mick O’Driscoll, especially, to claim five Blues throws in the opening 40 minutes.

It came as little surprise, though, that open-side flanker Niall Ronan was voted man of the match. He was outstanding in all facets, but most notably in pilfering Blues possession on the ground, carrying a lot of ball himself and supporting the carrier intelligently and effectively.

Jeremy Manning also did well at number ten, outside of contributing 14 of his side’s points. But the Munster back-line still failed to function as well as they might have been expected to do given the decent quality of possession they received on a perfect playing surface and on an ideal night for fast, open and attacking rugby.

Skipper O’Driscoll said: “Our performance last week was close to the worst many of us have ever experienced in a Munster shirt and this was a very welcome improvement.

“Things were a lot more intense at training and we got our heads right for tonight and I think it showed. It was certainly a step in the right direction but no more than that. The big thing is we don’t fall in love with ourselves.”

Coach Tony McGahan was clearly relieved at the outcome while also keeping a lid on things. Once again, the side conceded a huge number of penalties as they failed to understand the interpretations of Scottish referee Peter Allan. McGahan stressed that “we need to be a lot smarter, for there was no need for our lack of discipline”.

The first half hour was especially forgettable, with neither side capable of putting a meaningful attack together with the result that the only scores were a couple of penalties by Manning against one for the Blues by Ben Blair.

It was then that Alan Quinlan, who was his usual industrious self throughout, and O’Driscoll decided to liven things up as they ran a penalty from deep in their own half and eventually forced a penalty a few yards from the visitors’ line.

As if to underline the improvement in the side’s scrummaging from a week earlier in Glasgow, they opted for a scrum and after the initial charge was resisted, Marcus Horan proved unstoppable from close range.

Manning landed the conversion and then a penalty to leave Munster apparently sitting pretty at 16-3. But on the stroke of half time, Cardiff engineered a splendid try down the right wing when Blair gathered his own chip ahead, before getting a rapid-fire pass away to the supporting hooker Rhys Thomas, who sent number eight Xavier Rush galloping clear. Blair converted to leave six points between the sides at the break.

The second half started in lively fashion, with a fair old shindig mainly involving the rival loose-head props Horan and John Yapp followed by a yellow card for Maama Molitika after a dangerous tackle on Manning. The out-half recovered to slot the resultant penalty, but Blair also found the mark for the Blues to ensure a full-blooded contest entering the final half hour.

The Blues suffered no further damage during Molitika’s absence, but Munster were at last getting up to full steam and after substitute Damien Varley and Horan had gone close, Denis Leamy performed an impressive piece of dexterity in the right corner to grab his side’s second try.

Mr Allan subsequently disliked much of what he saw in the home side’s play at the breakdown, and a succession of penalties meant that they struggled to find any cohesion and culminated in a yellow card at the death for Lifeimi Mafi.

But it mattered little. Munster were comfortable winners by the end but the crowd streaming out of the ground re-echoed O’Driscoll’s words that “there is still a long way to go”.

* A minute’s silence was observed before the kick-off in memory of Mr Ralph Murphy, former president of the Munster Branch, who died this week.

MUNSTER: F Jones; D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, D Hurley; J Manning, P Stringer; M Horan, D Fogarty, J Hayes; M O'Driscoll (capt), D Ryan; A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Leamy.

Replacements: T Buckley for Hayes (h/t); D Varley for Fogarty (52); T Morland for Stringer (55); B Holland for Ryan (70); T O’Donnell for Quinlan (74);

CARDIFF BLUES: B Blair; L Halfpenny, G Thomas, D Hewitt, C Czekaj; C Sweeney, G Cooper; J Yapp, R Thomas, T Filise, D Jones, P Tito (capt0, M Molitika, R Sowden-Taylor, X Rush.

Replacements: G Powell, G Williams for Rhys Thomas (both 60); A Power for Sowden-Taylor, R Rees for Cooper, (both 65); S Morgan for Tito (72); S Norton-Knight for Sweeney (73); D James for Hewitt (74).

Referee: P Allan (Scotland).