Murray cited as Matawalu facing charge of biting
Murray faces an accusation of ‘striking with the elbow’, contrary to law 10.4 (a), after the match citing commissioner Rob Flockhart issued his report shortly before last night’s 10pm deadline.
The potential loss of Murray would be another massive headache forIreland coach Joe Schmidt who has mounting injury concerns ahead of the games against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand in the AvivaStadium.
Murray is not the only one in hot water after the clash with Glasgow Warriors' replacement scrum half Niko Matawalu facing a charge of biting.
In the aftermath of the game,Flockhart’s attention was drawn to allegations of a bite to Donncha O’Callaghan’s forearm, before the hosts hit back with a statement on Saturday night claiming foul play by an unnamed Munster player against their scrum-half Matawalu.
A hearing will be held before an independent RaboDirect PRO12 Disciplinary Committee at a date to be announced.
The bad blood between the two sides was perhaps an indication of the importance of what had taken place with Glasgow losing in the league for the first time this season and with it their place atop the Rabo table.
For Penney the victory, with all the points scored by fly-half JJ Hanrahan, including an outstanding try at the start of the second-half in otherwise dour struggle, was made all the more staisfying by the disruption to preparations caused by late injuries.
Keith Earls, picked at outside centre, had gone down with a tendon problem in his knee and failed to make the trip, while Paul O’Connell pulled out, having failed a pre-game fitness test on a tight calf.
That brought Casey Laulala and Billy Holland into the starting line-up and travelling reserves Cian Bohane and Dave Foley onto the bench, while there was further improvisation required in the backline when wing Andrew Conway succumbed to a rib injury 10 minutes in the second-half.
“That happens and I was excited to see how resolute we would be given those challenges,” Penney said. “It’s something I think we’ve struggled with in my time here when there’s been the loss of a body or a change of personnel, that we’ve taken a little bit of time to adjust but, I couldn’t have asked any more of the lads.
“It was a really resolute performance at a time when there was bit of adversity, given the adjustments we had to make. So I’m just really proud to beat the best team in the Rabo at their home ground, it’s a great achievement.”
Penney praised the work of his assistant coaches for bringing out the best in his players defensively as they kept Glasgow tryless throughout, despite a period down to 10 men following Cronin’s yellow card and a late, desperate flurry from the home side.
“It was a war of attrition to a degree,” Penney said. “The growth in our defence, Anthony Foley and Ian Costello working hard and getting a really good outcome because it was our defence that won it.
“Tenacity, desperation, a little bit of detail in terms of understanding how to defend in those areas has been worked on and it’s also about putting your body on the line and just throwing yourself into it. We did that efficiently and I’m really proud of their work ethic and their ability to keep bouncing up and getting in the defensive line.”
And there was also praise for the score that made the difference, Hanrahan’s 46th-minute try, scored after the backs had worked an opening from an attacking scrum on the 22 to release the fly-half on a dazzling run around the Glasgow defence and into the corner.
“He scored a wonderful try on the back of some nice back play. We don’t often get credited with our back play but (backs coach) Simon Mannix has been working hard with them and just trying to change a few subtle things and that move they pulled off there was one of the subtleties he’s been trying to get them to do and it was great to see a positive outcome out of it.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
