Munster moving in the right direction
Anthony Foley’s first home game since succeeding Rob Penney as Munster head coach saw his team’s performance vastly improved from the previous week’s opening pre-season outing at Gloucester on a night when the province’s first team visited Waterford for the first time in the professional era.
And in the final workout before next Friday’s Guinness Pro12 home opener against Edinburgh in Limerick, a healthy crowd saw an entertaining fixture.
A try in each half, from wing Ronan O’Mahony and then replacement scrum-half Duncan Williams, both converted by the impressive Johnny Holland at fly-half, came either side of a London Irish try from Alex Lewington on the stroke of half-time as Munster dominated proceedings throughout.
“I think we managed it pretty well. Coming down here and playing in front a packed stadium helped,” Foley said. “There was a lot of pressure on the boys in pre-season in terms of where they can go in the season and it’s good to see a dominant performance like that.
“We left a few tries out there as well so that’s something we need to look out but we’re happy with the scoreline. ”
Last weekend’s 45-8 hammering at Gloucester had seen a less-experienced Munster line-up fight to the end at Kingsholm and though Foley could not fault them for their attitude and endeavour, a 29 per cent possession statistic for the visitors told its own story and the Munster boss sent out his troops this time around with firm instructions to win and then retain ball.
There was more possession this week and although Munster’s promising build-up play came to nought early on it was far from dull.
Not least when Exiles’ captain and former Munster scrum-half Tomás O’Leary’s crossfield kick turned into a breakneck counter from wing Ronan O’Mahony, yet with Munster’s policy of kicking their penalties to the corners not being rewarded with points, it was not until the 36th minute that the Waterford scoreboard was pressed into action.
Both sides had been reduced to 14 men when Munster skipper Donncha O’Callaghan and opposing lock Jebb Sinclair were sin-binned following an altercation on the deck but with the home side in possession it was the visitors who cracked under the pressure when scrum-half Cathal Sheridan flicked out a long pass. With three men over in the left corner it was O’Mahony who recieved the pass and crossed the line unopposed, Johnny Holland converting from five metres inside the left touchline to send Munster into a 7-0 lead.
Yet Foley’s men committed the cardinal sin of switching off after scoring and within three minutes, London Irish had crossed Munster’s line, wing Alex Lewington evading two Munster tackles to dive over in the right-hand corner. Myles Dorrian’s conversion attempt missed to end the half with Munster going in at the break 7-5 in front.
The second half was a similar story, albeit featuring two further yellow cards for London Irish, prop Matt Parr for a scrum misdemeanour, returning in the 53rd minute only for No.8 Luke Narraway to walk six minutes later.
No doubt the flurry of substitutions interrupted the flow of the game but one of the numerous subs at least made an impact, Sheridan’s lively half-time replacement Duncan Williams picking from a ruck on the tryline to dive over for a try directly after Narraway had been binned and the Exiles further stretched in defence.
Holland converted to put Munster 14-5 to the good and then extended the lead with a penalty in the 64th minute.
Ronan O’Mahony proved his effectiveness when he snuffed out a rare London Irish foray beyond the halfway line, producing a try-saving tackle on opposite number Lewington who had two team-mates with nothing but grass separating them and the Munster line.
Unfortunately the same period of play saw centre Cian Bohane go down with a right knee injury that required several minutes of treatment where he fell and then saw him stretchered off to give an eventful evening a sobering moment.
“Cian coming off on a stretcher isn’t ideal and we hope his scan (today) is good to him and he’s back on the pitch as soon as possible,” Foley said.
J Murphy (D Johnston, 66); R O’Mahony, A Smith (R Scannell, 66), C Bohane (J Murphy, 75), D Sweetnam (I Dineen, 59); J Holland, C Sheridan (D Williams, h-t); J Ryan (A Cotter, 73), K O’Byrne (G Slattery, 62, D Casey, 76); S Archer (BJ Botha, 50), D O’Callaghan – captain (J Madigan, 75); B Holland; CJ Stander (S McCarthy, 66), S Dougall (B O’Mahony, 66), R Copeland (S Buckley, 62).
A Fenby; A Lewington, T Fowlie, G Armitage, W Harries; M Dorrian, T O’Leary – captain (D Allinson, 52); M Parr, D Paice (G Ellis, h-t), H Aulika (L Halavatau, h-t); J Sinclair, N Rouse (O Treviranus, 34); K Low, C Gilsenan (T Court, 45-52, M Mayhew, 75), L Narraway.
B Cowan, S Geraghty, J Short, E Sheridan, T Ojo, T Homer, C Noakes.
D Wilkinson (IRFU)
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