Munster may have unearthed a gem in Bleyendaal
Having been sidelined by a serious neck injury since he arrived on these shores more than 12 months ago, Bleyendaal performed with pace, precision and purpose to help Munster into a 19-7 lead over French side Grenoble before being called ashore by Anthony Foley because of a ‘tight groin’.
The head coach subsequently attempted to dampen any sense of over-expectation while admitting that he was very pleased with what he had seen up to this point from the former Canterbury star.
Otherwise, Munster produced a powerful maul with three of their five tries coming from this fruitful area and there was widespread satisfaction with the squad’s performance even if they eventually went down on a 38-29 scoreline. Robin Copeland, who missed much of last season because of a shoulder injury, left the field after about 40 minutes, but that was purely as a precaution.
Munster fans were a little apprehensive before the game given management had chosen a side composed mainly of academy members and players returning from long term injuries whereas Grenoble, who begin their French Top 14 campaign next weekend against Agen, were close to full-strength. The Munster backroom team was reported to be a little taken aback by this and in the circumstances Foley admitted to being heartened by what he had seen from his inexperienced squad, especially in the opening 50 minutes or so.
The first quarter ended in an unlikely 12-7 lead for the home side. Grenoble looked sharper early on and went in front after seven minutes with a try by hooker Laurent Bouchet after a line-out maul. Jonathan Wisniewski converted from far out.
Munster settled quickly, however, and skipper Cathal Sheridan rounded off a superb attack in which Bleyendall played a prominent role. The New Zealander narrowly missed the conversion but was on the target from the left-hand touchline after Shane Buckley got over after another line-out maul.
The second quarter proceeded even more brightly with Bleyendaal again displaying delightful footwork to make the crucial incision and send Matt D’Arcy (the tall, rangy Clontarf centre on a short term contract with the province) over for a well-worked try that the Kiwi again converted. The sparse attendance gave Bleyendaal a warm reception as he trotted off on the half-hour to be replaced by Bill Johnston, the highly impressive out-half in Rockwell’s Munster Schools Cup triumph last season. The opening half concluded with a Grenoble try by former Harlequins second-row James Percival, converted by Wisniewski to leave the score 19-14 in Munster’s favour.
Two much changed sides came out for the third of the four twenty-minute periods with the floodgates predictably opening at both ends. Grenoble tries flowed from former Springbok Gio Aplin, Denis Coulson (2) and Arnaud Hegay. Wisniewski and Christophe Loustalot each landed a conversion. The fleet-footed Darren Sweetnam got a beauty for Munster and the industrious Shane Buckley touched down for his second.
D Johnston; D Sweetnam, C Bohane, M D’Arcy, G Van den HeevM D’Arcy, G Van den Heever; T Bleyendaal, C Sheridan capt; J Ryan, N Scannell, BJ Botha, D Foley, J Madigan, J Coghlan, S Buckley, R Copeland.
Replacements (all used)– K O’Byrne, P McCabe, R Burke, D O’Callaghan, S McCarthy, R Foley, B Johnston, D McCarthy, C Oliver, S McMahon.
F Gengenbacher; X Mignot, F Estebanez, N Hunt, D Kilioni; J Wisniewski, C McLeod; F Barcella, L Bouchet, W Desmaison, B Hand, J Percival, J Best, M Diaby, R Grice.
Replacements (all used) – A Heguy, D Coulson, M Marie, P Kimlin, C Loustalot, C Gelin, C Farrell, D Edwards, F Alexandre, J Willison, A Batlle, G Alpin.
Gary Conway (IRFU).
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