Joey Carbery masterclass gives Munster momentum for final push
Munster's Joey Carbery gathers the ball against Scarlets at Thomond Park. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
Munster’s hopes of winning silverware for the first time in a decade have moved up a few notches as Joey Carbery produced a masterclass to show he’s ready to lead the way in the quest to end the trophy famine.
The cameos off the bench over the last two weekends against Cardiff and Connacht gave a glimpse of what Carbery can deliver for Munster, but the 25-year-old made it clear in this one he has lost none of his sharpness or drive when he started his first game in 14 months.
Conditions were very difficult at Thomond Park and while the heavy pre-match rain eased for a while, it made for slippery conditions and, inevitably, a lot of boot to ball.
All four Munster tries came from Cork natives with Gavin Coombes, Shane Daly, Niall Scannell, and Kevin O’Byrne scoring, but this game was all about one player.
Carbery was busy from the outset, constantly looking for action whether it was in defence or attack, and a superb touch-finder from inside his own half to deep inside the 22 down the right set the tone.
But it was the moment of magic that set up the second try of the night for Munster which showed what Carbery can bring to this side heading into the business end of the season.
Carbery collected a box-kick from scrum-half Dane Blacker inside his own half and his immediate instinct was to run. With Scarlets slow to get their defensive position sorted, the out-half made it to the 22 with a jinking run before neatly offloading at the right time to send Daly through for his first try of the season on his eighth start.
Carbery added the extra points to push Munster 14-3 ahead and give them the platform to push on for a fifth win in a row in the league.
Earlier they piled the pressure on a Scarlets side who couldn’t get out of their 22 after Munster went to touch with a couple of kickable penalties. Munster’s lineout, which coughed up seven of their own balls against Connacht, was more varied this time, going from short to extended lineouts with even centres JJ Hanrahan and Damien de Allende joining it on a couple of occasions.
It wasn’t flawless and their failure to get a man in the air on their own throw after a penalty on 14 minutes led to a turnover but Munster won their next lineout after the clearance and the pressure paid off eventually after Scannell was held up when Coombes squeezed over for his ninth try of the season, with Carbery converting.
Angus O’Brien pulled back a penalty from the right after Daly was pinged for obstruction but it was a rare moment of attacking from Scarlets and after Carbery’s magic, Munster pushed on to lead 21-3 at the break; Scannell getting over in the left corner after flanker Aaron Shingler was binned for taking out Billy Holland in a lineout.
Carbery kicked into the wind and rain, keeping the trajectory low, to split the posts with a superb conversion.
The only downside for Munster came after 28 minutes when Fineen Wycherley was stretchered off after play was held up for over eight minutes. Alex Kendellen came on for his senior debut just a year out of schools’ rugby.
Munster continued to dominate after the restart but didn’t increase their lead until the 59th minute when Fijian lock Tevita Ratuva was binned for bringing down a maul and after a penalty to the corner, Munster got the drive and replacement hooker O’Byrne scored to secure the bonus point.
Carbery curled over the conversion from the left in what was his final action before he was replaced by Jack Crowley going into the final quarter, and the Bandon 21-year-old impressed on only his second appearance and first at Thomond Park for Munster.
Scrum-half Paddy Patterson, on loan from Leinster, came on to make his Munster debut 15 minutes from the end when he replaced Daly, with Nick McCarthy moving to the left wing as they eased to victory and they will hope for another good workout next week against Benetton before taking on Leinster a week later as they bid to win the league title for the first time since 2011.
Munster finished with 14 men when James Cronin was binned for not rolling away in the final minute Scarlets got over through Steff Evans in the final play.
G Coombes, S Daly, N Scannell, K O’Byrne tries; J Carbery 4 cons. S Evans try; A O’Brien pen, con.
M Haley (D Sweetnam 52); C Nash, D de Allende, JJ Hanrahan, S Daly (P Patterson 66); J Carbery (J Crowley 61), N McCarthy; J Cronin (J Loughman 52), N Scannell (K O’Byrne 52) (Scannell 68, HIA) (Cronin 77, HIA), S Archer (J Ryan 52); J Kleyn (T Ahern 61), B Holland (c); F Wycherley (A Kendellen 29), J O’Sullivan, G Coombes.
J McNicholl (J Williams 43); T Prydie, T Morgan (P Asquith 63), S Hughes (c), S Evans; A O’Brien, D Blacker (W Homer 61); S Thomas (K Mathias 52), Marc Jones (T Davies 52), P Scholtz (A Jeffries 52); Morgan Jones (T Ratuva 54), S Lousi; A Shingler (U Cassiem 60), J Morgan, S Kalamafoni.
S Gallagher (IRFU).
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