Concerns remain for Penney despite victory

It was an interesting night in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 last night where we saw the good, the bad and the ugly, writes Daniel Pitcher…

Munster are off to a great start but there is still a cause of concern for Rob Penney in their defence.

Ulster are yet to pick up a win and paid the price for missed chances, while Connacht paid the price for ill-discipline in Cardiff.

It’s to Palma first where Munster were looking to keep up form that saw them bonus point winners over Edinburgh last week on opening night.

I had concern then despite the win about Munster’s defence as they coughed up some easy tries. That concern wasn’t eased last night as the province found themselves behind at the beak 18-9 thanks to Luciano Orquera and Andrea Manici.

It may still be early doors in the season, but Penney and co will want to eliminate defensive errors and poor discipline before the start of the new Heineken Cup next month.

It’s a good thing Munster’s attack is so good, otherwise they could have been embarrassed in coughing up Zebre’s first win in the Pro 12.

It was a 45th-minute penalty from JJ Hanrahan that settled Munster and brought them to within six points the Italians.

Paddy Butler then crossed for Munster's first try of the night a minute later, and Hanrahan's conversion meant Munster took a 19-18 lead.

By that time the visitors began to gain the upper hand and after forcing a penalty at the breakdown, Hanrahan pushed his side into a four-point lead.

CJ Stander claimed the first of his two tries after he finished off some excellent Munster pressure going over the line. Orquera kept Zebre within touching distance with a 64th minute penalty to leave it 29-21 to Munster.

But there was no need for Munster fans to worry as Stander and Keatley each doted down in a nine-minute period in the closing stages to clinch the comeback triumph.

A great and spirited fight back from the red province and they stay in Italy training before next week’s clash against Treviso.

Ulster will be waking up scratching their heads wondering just how they lost to Glasgow in a new look Ravenhill. It’s not really a conundrum to solve, it’s pretty simple – they failed to take advantage of Glasgow errors and failed to use their massive percentage of possession to score some tries.

Mark Anscombe’s side weren’t without their chances and had three attempts of the line in the second half.

Michael Allen, Luke Marshall and David McIlwaine all had chances to cross for Ulster with the latter actually getting over the line but being held up by a combination of Jonny Gray and Tommy Seymour.

It was very un Ulster like for neither of those chances to be put away and you could sense the frustration from the fans on the night they marked the one year anniversary of the tragic death of Nevin Spence with a new museum named in his name.

Ulster are this season trying to ditch their nearly tag but two losses so far wont help the cause with the Heineken Cup looming and their next game being an inter pro against Connacht.

Speaking of Connacht, Pat Lam I think now knows the size of the challenge he faces as headcoach, if he wants to take the team further than they were last season.

He saw his side lose 21-10 against Cardiff Blues in a game where at one stage the visitors held the higher procession rate in dreadful conditions in the Welsh capital.

John Muldoon would clearly have been looking for a better result on the night he entered the ‘200’ club’ – He led the side out ahead of match day captain Michael Swift.

The conditions really were the talking point of the match.

Dan Parks, who got the match underway managed to land his kick straight to touch, an early indication that it was going to be a very long night – however, if it wasn’t an indication, maybe it was the penalty he put wide of the posts inside the first few minutes.

Connacht tried to play through the phases as best they could and on 12 minutes were rewarded when Winger Matt Healy not only went over the line for the try but slid all the way to the dead ball line – Dan Parks was good for the conversion – Connacht did extremely well to go into the break with a one point lead.

What was to come was a nightmare for Connacht’s new coach in un-familiar circumstances. Connacht were forced to soak up some early pressure from the Blues who worked their way towards the Connacht line.

Despite a break from British & Irish Lions player Alex Cuthbert, the home side were met with firm Connacht defence but made do with two successive penalties from Patchell.

The fifth successful penalty kick from the Man of the Match denied Connacht any consolation of a losing bonus point. The out half added to his tally with a last minute three-pointer to seal the deal for the Blues.

Sometimes in conditions like those, it’s hard to write a critical analysis about where the game was lost for the men from the west- but what you can say is that it’s September in the north Atlantic.

If Pat Lam thought conditions last night were bad, wait till he sees what’s to come over what’s expected to be another long winter.

Connacht’s squad is littered with plenty of experienced men like Jason Harris-Wright, Nathan White and George Naoupu.

I have already mentioned the hunger that Ulster will have when they arrive in Galway next week following their disappointing loss but Connacht will be feeling the same which should make for an intense battle.