Game in 60 seconds: Snyman injury blow for Munster as Leinster hold on

Munster can't produce drop-goal winner but earn bonus

Sat, 22 Aug, 2020 - 21:47

Simon Lewis, Aviva Stadium

GUINNESS PRO14: LEINSTER 27 MUNSTER 25

Key Moment:

Trailing 27-25 with the clock on 78 minutes, Munster were within touching distance of a first victory over Leinster since December 2018 as they went through the phases on the edge of the 22 but a short inside pass from JJ Hanrahan as the space for a drop goal attempt was denied was picked off expertly by Devin Toner and the Reds’ chance was gone.

Talking Point:

So rugby is back and not as we know it and after six months out of action due to the Covid pandemic, the ring rust was evident on both sides. Leinster are already in the semis as their unbeaten run stretches to 14 straight wins but the losing bonus point aside, Munster need a win next weekend against Connacht to keep Scarlets at bay and hope Edinburgh, now five points clear at the top of Conference B, slip up against Glasgow. If they don’t, Munster face another challenging semi-final against Leinster in a fortnight’s time.

Key Man:

Chris Farrell picked up the man of the match award after an industrious outing at outside centre that saw him link well with new midfield partner Damian De Allende. It was Farrell rather than the Springbok who proved to be Munster’s go-to centre to take the ball into contact and the Ireland man did it well, while also showing good hands and vision in an ultimately losing effort.

Ref Watch:

If this game was stop-start it had nothing to do with any over-officiousness from referee Andrew Brace. There were more penalties as there have been across world rugby with officials asked to referee the breakdown to the strictest letter of the laws but rustiness had more to do with the lack of fluency to this contest, and not surprising for a first game in six months. Leinster will not be happy with conceding 12 second-half penalties to Munster’s single indiscretion and they also lost replacement lock Devin Toner to a yellow card at a lineout, allowing Munster back into the game having opened up some daylight on the scoreboard at 24-13.

Penalties Conceded:

Leinster 17 Munster 9

Injuries

Having already lost starting loosehead prop James Cronin to a groin injury prior to kick-off, Munster’s worst nightmare was realised just seven minutes after kick-off when star signing RG Snyman was forced off with an ankle injury having fallen awkwardly after stealing a Leinster lineout. He was joined on the slow and painful walk off by Cronin’s stand-in Dave Kilcoyne, also to what looked like an ankle issue.

Next Up:

The Aviva Stadium remains the epicentre of Irish rugby for the time being with the final round of PRO14 regular-season games back here next weekend. Leinster meet Conference B rivals Ulster on Saturday, followed by Munster and Connacht the following afternoon..

LEINSTER: J Larmour; D Kearney (J Gibson-Park, 63), G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; J Sexton - captain (R Byrne, 59), L McGrath (M Deegan, 67); C Healy (E Byrne, 57), R Kelleher (S Cronin, 59), A Porter (M Bent, 59); R Baird, S Fardy (D Toner, 53); C Doris, J van der Flier (W Connors, 56), J Conan.

YC: Toner 62-72

MUNSTER: S Daly; A Conway, C Farrell, D de Allende, K Earls; JJ Hanrahan, C Murray (C Casey, 70); D Kilcoyne (J Loughman, 7), N Scannell (R Marshall, 53), S Archer (J Ryan, 53); RG Snyman (J Kleyn, 7, R Scannell, 57), B Holland; P O’Mahony - captain, T O’Donnell (C Cloete, 48), CJ Stander.

Replacement not used: M Gallagher.

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)