Scrapping Scarlets shock Munster

Scarlets 25 Munster 22: Anthony Foley may find himself scratching his head over this one for some time to come after Munster gave up a 10-point lead to lose a game they did not trail in until the final second.

For long spells of the evening it had looked to be the Scarlets who would lose their unbeaten Guinness Pro 12 record after an error-strewn opening from the home side allowed Foley’s men to assert control of a scrappy but absorbing top of the table contest.

When Andrew Conway’s try and the boot of Ian Keatley, who ended with 17 points having been drafted in to the starting line-up at the last minute following an injury to Tyler Bleyendaal, had Munster 10-0 and 13-3 up, a home win looked an unlikely outcome.

But the Scarlets scrapped and battled, striking key blows either side of the interval to haul themselves back into contention and set up the dramatic denouement.

Their tries came in quick succession from DTH van der Merwe and replacement Tom Williams in the third quarter, and fly-half Steven Shingler did the rest with five penalties, including two in the dying embers to make it five from five for Wayne Pivac’s league leaders.

“That was a game we through away,” said a dejected Foley.

“I felt for long periods we were in complete control of that game and yet we have not got a result.

“You need to be able to handle certain situations at places like this, where it is a cauldron, and manage your discipline and we were not able to do that.

“We were up with five minutes to go, we needed to close it out and we didn’t.

The hosts had welcomed back their Welsh World Cup contingent in the form of forwards, Ken Owens, Samson Lee and Jake Ball, with exciting scrum-half Gareth Davies on the bench.

But there was a lack of fluency in their early play, as well as several woes at scrum and line-out, the latter issue continuing throughout the 80 minutes. Tightlead Lee was penalised at the first scrum and Keatley calmly put the visitors ahead, and they could have had more had flanker James Davies not expertly turned over Gerhard van den Heever after the winger made a midfield burst to roar deep into Scarlets territory.

Not that the Munster defence were being asked too many taxing questions during the first quarter as possession was regularly coughed up, allowing Keatley and Cathal Sheridan to dominate the territorial kicking game.

The first real warning shot came in the 22nd minute when a loose kick was seized upon by Van der Merwe, who arced across field to link up with Hadleigh Parkes.

Regan King, John Barclay and Davies had the Munster cover at breaking point, but Shingler fumbled as he stopped to gather the final offload with the line at his mercy.

The missed chance was punished emphatically by Conway. King spilled the ball in midfield and the full-back reacted quickest to kick ahead. Parkes and Aled Thomas attempted to chase him down but he had the gas to see them off and dot down, with the Television Match Official Joe Mason, awarding the score.

Keatley converted and then exchanged penalties with Shingler to ensure Munster remained 10 points to the good as the interval approached.

But Shingler landed what turned out to be an important kick with 40 minutes up to bring the Scarlets within seven at the break.

It proved a turning point as they roared out of the blocks at the start of the second half, with Williams echoing his brother Lloyd’s World Cup superbsub heroics for Wales, by making a telling contribution.

His outside break proved the undoing of a largely solid Munster rearguard and he shipped the ball on for Thomas to put Van der Merwe in at the corner.

Shingler could not convert and another Keatley penalty meant the visitors still enjoyed a five-point lead.

But disaster struck 15 minutes into the second half. King’s grubber was hardly threatening, but Conway and Stephen Fitzgerald got in each other’s way and saw the ball bobble over the try line. Williams reacted quickest and TMO Mason ruled he had beaten Conway to the touchdown.

Again Shingler could not convert and when Williams was binned for a high tackle the pendulum looked to have swung back for Munster.

Keatley missed two long-range penalties, but landed a drop goal to make it a three-point Munster advantage.

However, they could not make the most of the numerical advantage and, in fact, Shingler ensured the Scarlets emerged with parity from the 10-minue period.

It set-up a nervy final 15 minutes but Keatley looked to have finally sealed the deal when he kicked his fourth penalty with just seven minutes remaining, only for Munster to gift Shingler two opportunities in the dying moments and the former London Irish man, made no mistake.

Scarlets:

Tries: van der Merwe, T. Williams. Pens: S. Shingler 5. Scarlets: Thomas, Parkes, King, Owen, van der Merwe, S. Shingler, R. Williams, John, Owens, Lee, Ball, Price, Rawlins, J. Davies, Barclay.

Replacements:

T. Williams for Owen (41), G. Davies for R. Williams (52), D. Evans for John (67), Edwards for Lee (50), Earle for Price (65).

Munster:

Tries: Conway. Cons: Keatley. Pens: Keatley 4. Drop Goals: Keatley.

Munster:

Conway, Fitzgerald, Johnston, Hurley, van den Heever, Keatley, Sheridan, Kilcoyne, Casey, Botha, Copeland, Chisholm, O’Callaghan, Coghlan, Stander.

Replacements:

R. O’Mahony for Fitzgerald (60), O’Leary for Sheridan (51), Cronin for Kilcoyne (51), N. Scannell for Casey (72), Foley for Copeland (51).

Ref:

Gary Conway (Ireland).