Keatley is kingpin, but Munster suffer more injury woes

RABODIRECTPRO12:

There was a further blow for the visitors when South African debutant Gerhard van den Heever left the field clutching his arm, although the former Western province wing is not yet registered for the Heineken Cup.

Yet the premature departures of hooker Sherry, who got a finger in the eye, and No.8 Coughlan who suffered a ‘jammed up knee’, will cause furrowed brows in the Munster camp ahead of the round three home game with Pool 6 leaders Perpignan at Thomond Park.

The bright side was a stellar performance from fly-half Keatley, back form a hip/groin injury that had ruled him out of last week’s win at Cardiff Blues. He returned in style, kicking all the points with six penalties from seven attempts as Munster just kept one step ahead of their hosts in the crucial closing minutes, the Dragons having taken an 11-6 lead after half-time with the only try of the game.

The Dragons, buoyed by their victory in Glasgow last weekend, had edged a tight first half of little excitement, Welsh fly-half Jason Tovey out-kicking opposite number Keatley two penalties to one.

Keatley knocked on under no pressure fielding a long kick in his 22 and Tovey’s penalty nudged the home side in front on 12 minutes.

Munster were off the hook five minutes later when Denis Hurley was deemed to have inflicted a high tackle on fellow No.11 Matthew Pewtner, Tovey missing from close to the right touchline.

Tovey was beginning to pose problems in open play, though, and had Munster on the back foot before Dave Kilcoyne relieved the pressure by forcing a Dragons misdemeanour in a ruck on his own 22. Munster worked their way upfield from that point in the 22nd minute, and won another breakdown penalty just over the halfway line, Keatley kicking to touch on the left deep inside the Dragons 22 and from the lineout the visitors strung together phases for the first time in the match. It was only six but it was progress and in the middle of the sequence they earned a penalty in front of the posts, Keatley levelling the scores after 26 minutes.

Munster were on top at scrum-time as the game dug deeper into arm-wrestle mode, Tovey expressing the Dragons’ frustrations with a 36th-minute drop-goal attempt from outside the 22 that faded wide of the posts.

There was more trouble for Munster when James Coughlan went into a ruck from the side and appeared to be set for the bin as referee Marius Mitrea reached into his pocket, only for Dragons scrum-half Richie Rees to take a quick tap and sprint towards the line. It came to nought as Earls bundled him into touch and Coughlan remained on the field.

It was Tovey, though, who split the teams with his second successful penalty to end the half with the Dragons on top at 6-3. There was more incident in the opening five minutes of the second-half than the previous 40, with Sherry going down injured and receiving lengthy treatment but soldiering on as Matthew Pewtner raced over in the corner for the first try in the 45th minute. Tovey missed the conversion as Sherry bowed to the inevitable and limped off and there was further injury concern for Munster when debutant Gerhard van den Heever left the field clutching his right arm.

The plus side was Keatley was kicking the visitors back into contention with penalties midway through the second period to edge Munster in front at 12-11 with a third in succession six minutes later.

That the visitors had been down to 14 men for the latter two penalties following a yellow card for Keith Earls says much for Munster’s resilience, the Ireland back returning with his side six points better off than when he departed for the sin bin with Dragons lock Cory Hill replacing him on the naughty step. Tovey kept the home side in full voice with a drop goal that edged his side back in front at 14-12 but his team-mates kept giving his opposite number opportunities off the tee at the other end and Keatley was in clinical form, nailing a penalty won at the scrum from just inside his own half and then slotting another in the closing minutes for a priceless away win.

Newport Gwent D’gons scorers: Tries: Pewther. Pens: Tovey 2. Drop Goals: Tovey.

DRAGONS: D Evans; W Harries, P Leach, R Wardle, M Pewtner; J Tovey, R Rees (W Evans, 74); O Evans (A Coundley, 68), S Parry (E Dee, 74), F Chaparro (D Way, 64); C Hill, R Sidoli – captain; L Evans, N Cudd, N Talei.

Munster scorers: Pens: Keatley 6.

MUNSTER: F Jones; G van den Heever (I Dineen, 64), K Earls, J Downey, D Hurley; I Keatley, D Williams (C Sheridan, 68); D Kilcoyne (J Cronin, 73), M Sherry (D Varley, 46), S Archer (BJ Botha, 73); Donncha O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (I Nagle, 64); B Holland — captain, CJ Stander, J Coughlan (B O’Mahony, 51).

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)

Rabo Pro12: Ospreys 16 Glasgow Ospreys 28