Bonus point for table-toppers but at what cost?

Munster 36 Zebre 8

A bonus-point victory at Musgrave Park on Saturday night over perennial league strugglers Zebre saw Munster leapfrog arch-rivals Leinster at the top of the table but the head coach’s satisfaction will have been tempered by a serious-looking knee injury to flanker Dave O’Callaghan and another strain on his hooking resources.

With Mike Sherry out since November and looking set to miss the rest of the season, Damien Varley still on the sidelines with a delayed concussion and Niall Scannell ruled out for eight weeks last Tuesday after hyper-extending an elbow in training, Penney had gone to the AIL clubs for reinforcements, calling Ger Slattery from Young Munster and UL Bohemians’ Kevin O’Byrne into the squad as cover for Casey, the last hooker standing and making just his seventh appearance for Munster on Saturday.

Penney indicated last week that Munster had a Southern Hemisphere hooker lined up pending any further deterioration in his resources, with New Zealand Maori player Quintin McDonald believed to be a consideration having spent some time in the head coach’s native province at Canterbury before spells with Tasman and then last season at the Blues in Auckland.

When Casey went down clutching his right leg in the 29th minute and was replaced by Slattery just 10 minutes after half-time, Penney felt the time was right to call for back-up.

“Yeah, it probably is (time), I’m sure it is,” the Munster boss said. “I’m sure there will be a media release of that nature when something’s finalised.

“I think Duncan got a bad whack just above the knee so it’s a haematoma more than anything. But they can be nasty too, so we’re just going to have to wait and so that creates another level of....

“We’re investigating (who’s next in line) so you’ll know pretty shortly where we’re going to with that. We’re making progress on that.”

Slattery proved to be one of the stars of the show in Cork as Munster rallied after a slow start which saw them concede a 12th minute try to Tommaso D’Apice, the Zebre hooker bullocking through three missed tackles to give the Italians a shock 5-0 lead. Two tries from Simon Zebo before half-time did his prospects of an Ireland recall no harm and helped Munster to a 15-5 interval lead as the home side took advantage of some unusually good conditions to put in an entertaining second quarter of running rugby, fly-half JJ Hanrahan contributing a penalty and one conversion to the tally.

Prior to that Penney thought his side had been “a bit flat and a bit lateral at times” but put that down to rustiness following a two-week break at the start of the Six Nations. Still, a bonus point was the expectation and Munster duly kicked on after the break, Slattery going over for a couple of tries to match Zebo’s first-half efforts, with a score either side of Tommy O’Donnell’s dot down as the home side turned the screw.

Dave O’Callaghan will await the result of a scan he underwent immediately following his departure on a stretcher after just 18 minutes, his knee injury the latest setback in the back rower’s stop-start, injury-hit season. His replacement and namesake, though, had plenty to celebrate as Donncha O’Callaghan’s entrance at Musgrave Park marked his 241st appearance for the province, surpassing Ronan O’Gara as Munster’s most capped player.

Injuries aside, not a bad night’s work for the outgoing Penney to consider as he heads into away games in Wales against Ospreys and Scarlets and after an eight-day period which began with his decision to turn down a contract extension and leave at the end of the season and finished with a second bonus-point victory in a week.

“They are obviously happy I’m off,” he said of his players’ reaction before recognising that announcing his departure was a one-off motivational tool.

“You don’t get a second chance to get that one,” Penney said, before adding “10 points during this block is impressive.

“And if we can ... anything that we can pick up in Wales, Ospreys at home and Scarlets at home. To have those two teams away with a short turnaround and having to travel both times is a real challenge, but that’s what the management group are tasked to do, to try and overcome those with our selection. The variety that we have available and also to try and make our away performances as good as our home ones, that’s what we’re after.”

And making his decision to walk away from Munster all the more difficult.

“Oh yeah, absolutely. Very, very difficult,” Penney added.

MUNSTER: F Jones (A Conway, 65); G van den Heever, J Murphy, I Keatley, S Zebo; JJ Hanrahan (D Hurley, 60), C Sheridan (D Williams, 60); J Cronin (D Kilcoyne, 68), D Casey (G Slattery, 50), BJ Botha (J Ryan, 63); D Ryan (S Dougall, 68), B Holland – captain; Dave O’Callaghan (Donncha O’Callaghan, 18), T O’Donnell, CJ Stander.

ZEBRE: D Berryman; D Odiete (G Bisegni, 72), K Ratuvou, R Quartaroli, G Venditti; G Palazzani, B Leonard (A Chillon, 64); A De Marchi (D Ryan, 50), T D’Apice (L Giovanchelli, 57), D Christolini (L Leibson, 53); M van Vuren (F Cazzola, 74), G Biagi (E Caffini, 56); F Cristiano (N Cattina, 54), A Van Schalkwyk – captain, S Vunisa.

Yellow card: Van Schalkwyk 61-71

Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU).