Gavin Coombes stars as nine-try Munster rout Ospreys at Thomond
TIMELY PERFORMANCE: Munster's Gavin Coombes. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
Gavin Coombes sent out a timely reminder to Andy Farrell as he ran in a hat-trick as Munster put Ospreys to the sword with a superb display at Thomond Park.
The big No.8 was in devastating form as Munster ran in nine tries with centres Antoine Frisch and Malakai Fekitoa laying the foundation with a brilliant midfield display in front of a crowd of 14,082.
Munster had the bonus point in the bag and deservedly led by 27-3 at the end of an entertaining opening half.
Both sides were without their frontline internationals but Munster’s strength in-depth was much stronger than the Swansea side who rarely looked like getting in for a try.
They recovered from a slow start to take control of the game with some brilliant support play and strong running lines which had the Welsh side in difficultly.
Ospreys got an early boost with a Stephen Myler penalty in front of the posts with Munster full-back Shane Daly binned for killing the ball after he nabbed Ospreys lock Huw Sutton who had countered after intercepting a Joey Carbery pass.
Munster got on top despite being temporarily down a man and the impact of Frisch and Fekitoa was obvious from an early stage as they cut the Ospreys defence open with ease.
Carbery tied the match with a penalty after the centres had combined with skipper Jack O’Donoghue before an inside pass from lock Jean Kleyn put Gavin Coombes through to score his 30th try in 65 games. Carbery converted to lead 10-3 after 15 minutes.
Ospreys lost Bradley Davies to the bin in the build-up with the lock fortunate to escape with just a yellow card for a high tackle on prop Roman Salanoa.
Munster made the extra man count four minutes later when Carbey and Frisch combined to send Fekitoa through for his first Munster try in 12 games at the end of a week where it was announced that the former New Zealand World Cup winner is going to depart in the summer, halfway into a two-year contract.
Fekitoa turned provider for Munster’s third try, putting his centre partner Frisch in for his second try for the province in a dozen appearances.
The bonus point came three minutes from the break when Fekitoa fed Carbery and he cut an excellent line to score before adding the extras.
Jack O’Sullivan, on for injured captain O’Donoghue, did superbly to deny Ospreys replacement Iestyn Hopkins just before the break.
Munster crossed for their fifth inside a minute of the restart when scrum-half Paddy Patterson exchanged passes in the left corner with John Hodnett before racing in to score.
Munster continued to dominate as both sides emptied their benches and Munster’s all-time top try scorer took his haul to 71 in 162 appearances when he swapped wings to score in the left corner.
Full-back Daly put him through for that score before he himself touched down for their eighth try eleven minutes from time after a neat move from a lineout, with Carbery’s conversion taking them past the half century as they cantered home.
Coombes completed his hat-trick in the final minute with another drive to get over the line on another testing night for Welsh rugby.
Tries: G Coombes (3), M Fekitoa, A Frisch, J Carbery, P Patterson, S Zebo, S Daly.
Cons: Carbery (5).
Pen: Carbery.
Pen: S Myler.
S Daly; L Coombes (B Healy 52), A Frisch (R Scannell 59), M Fekitoa, S Zebo; J Carbery, P Patterson (E Coughlan 50); J Wycherley (M Donnelly 68), N Scannell, R Salanoa (S Archer 64); J Kleyn, F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue (capt.) (J O’Sullivan 30), J Hodnett, G Coombes.
D Barron, M Donnelly, S Archer, J O’Sullivan, A Kendellen, E Coughlan, B Healy, R Scannell.
M Nagy, L Morgan, M Collins (I Hopkins 38), O Watkin, K Giles (J Walsh 68); S Myler, R Morgan-Williams (M Aubrev 68) ; N Smith (capt.) (T Cowan-Dickie 60), (G Phillips 60), E Taione, T Botha (R Henry 52); B Davies (J Fender 68), H Sutton; J Regan (H Deaves 52), E Roots, M Morris.
T Cowan-Dickie, G Phillips, R Henry, J Fender, H Deaves, M Aubrey, J Walsh, I Hopkins.
Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy).
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