Holland try seals it for powerful Munster

Munster A 21 Leinster A 15

A glance to the touchline left nobody in any doubt where the influence was coming from in this Munster squad; the sight of the coach Anthony Foley and manager Mick Galwey being enough to inspire the Munster pack to produce a powerful second half display.

It wasn’t as if the backs couldn’t play, but in a tight game when real try-scoring chances were few and far between, Munster needed to, and did, go back to basics.

Foley quickly pointed to the number of unforced errors made in the opening half and conceded that Leinster threatened a lot more behind the scrum.

“Leinster have a quality side and we were fortunate to be just a point behind at the break,” he said. “We just needed to be more clever and we came out playing more direct rugby, looking to play in their territory and I thought our half-backs, Declan (Cusack) and Duncan (Williams) complemented the pack very well.

“I was particularly happy with the way the pack gelled in that second half; their handling at close quarters, their support work and drive was particularly good and they reaped the rewards for all of that hard work.”

He won’t have any argument from the enthusiastic home crowd on that score, as Munster came out full of fight, and got on top in the second half.

After a lively opening during which both sides showed promise, Leinster took a 16th-minute lead.

Eoin Sheriff was sent in for the opening score, a try courtesy of a slick pass from captain and scrum-half Paul O’Donohoe, who benefited from the grunt and grind of a powerful forward offensive that lasted a full three minutes.

Fergus McFadden added the points to send Leinster seven points clear, but missed two penalty opportunities to augment his side’s advantage.

Cusack didn’t make any mistake when given a 36th-minute shot at goal and he put Munster right back in the hunt, albeit very much against the run of play.

His second penalty, on the verge of half time, came after a much more concerted and vigorous assault by Munster; indeed Leinster were lucky referee Colin Stanley hadn’t allowed a few seconds more of advantage.

In any event, Cusack’s kick left the interval score at just 7-6 in Leinster’s favour, though the visitors were down to only 14 men after flanker Dominic Ryan was sin-binned for conceding that second penalty.

Ryan was still off the pitch when Munster grabbed the opening score of the second half, James Coughlan ploughing over after a series of close-in attacks. Cusack converted to put Munster into a 13-7 lead before he and McFadden exchanged penalties to leave the score at 16-10 midway through the second spell.

Leinster hauled their way back into the contest with an intercept try from winger Keating after 62 minutes, but McFadden again failed to add the extra points.

But the home side cranked up the pressure again to restore that six-point lead when Billy Holland drove over for a well-deserved 69th minute try. It was enough to see them through to a deserved victory.

MUNSTER A: D Riordan; R O’Mahony, T Gleeson, S Deasy, D Barnes; D Cusack, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, S Archer; D Foley, D Ryan; B Holland, J Coughlan (capt), T O’Donnell.

Replacements: S Henry for Sherry, P O’Mahony for O’Donnell, S Zebo for R O’Mahony (all 63) K Essex for Coughlan (16-23).

LEINSTER A: N Morris; M Keating, F McFadden, K Tonetti, D Kearney; I McKinley, P O’Donohoe (capt); J McGrath, J Harris-Wright, S Maguire; E Sheriff, M Flanagan; R Ruddock, P Ryan, D Ryan.

Replacements: B Barclay for McGuire, J O’Connell for McGrath, C Ruddock for Flanagan (all 67),B Macken for Tonetti , D Moore for O’Donohue, T Sexton for McKinley (all 73).