Hanrahan kicks Connacht to victory as double injury blow compounds Munster woe
Connacht's JJ Hanrahan celebrates kicking a penalty
A kicking masterclass in heavy rain from Connacht’s JJ Hanrahan consigned his former province to a third defeat in a row as the westerners claimed this URC New Year’s Day derby to end a five-match losing run of their own on Monday afternoon.
Hanrahan kicked five penalties and converted Jack Aungier’s 77th-minute try to leave the URC champions winless since December 1 as Connacht beat their southern neighbours for the third season in succession on home soil.
It was a game played out in a downpour that saw Munster lose forwards Oli Jager and Jack O’Donoghue to serious-looking first-half injuries, while there will be concerns for Ireland boss Andy Farrell at the sight of Connacht full-back and World Cup wing Mack Hansen assisted from the field clutching what appeared to be a facial injury in the dying minutes.
Munster’s existing disruption of multiple injuries and absences due to IRFU player welfare guidelines, had been compounded before kick-off with the loss from the starting line-up of hooker Eoghan Clarke and lock Fineen Wycherley. Former academy forward and short-term signing Clarke had been set for his first competitive start having come off the bench to replace the injured Diarmuid Barron after just seven minutes against Leinster six days earlier while Wycherley was primed for his comeback from a shoulder injury. The withdrawals led to the promotion from the bench of hooker Scott Buckley and back-rower Jack O’Donoghue, the latter moving to No.8 as Gavin Coombes reverted to his role as an auxiliary lock for third game in a row, this time alongside Tadhg Beirne.
Whether the late changes contributed to the lineout malfunction that struck Munster in the second minute remains to be seen but the visitors appeared to profit nonetheless, Coombes charging down Caolin Blade’s subsequent box kick and following up to touch down beyond the try line. Too far beyond, the TMO check revealed as the Munster player’s knee brushed the end line. No try.
Munster’s injury nightmare resumed shortly after as Oli Jager left the field in a neck brace and strapped into a stretcher cart on 12 minutes, the Irish-qualified tighthead prop from the Crusaders signed in November failing to get up from a crunching double tackle from Finlay Bealham and Joe Joyce.
Referee Chris Busby and his TMO deemed the tackle a fair one and to add to Munster’s woes, former player JJ Hanrahan kicked Connacht into a 3-0 lead on 17 minutes.
Some of the visitors’ troubles were self-inflicted, however, as their lineout continued to cause problems time and again, denying Munster the opportunities to capitalise on Connacht’s back-field kicking errors and some good work from rookie academy fly-half Tony Butler.
The Ennis 21-year-old, making his first competitive start with Jack Crowley unavailable, drew Munster level with a penalty on 23 minutes and then put his team in position A with an inch-perfect 50-22 kicked to the right corner two minutes later. Munster were poised six metres from the Connacht line, only for Buckley’s throw to be judged crooked.
Butler kicked the URC champions into the lead with another penalty on 32 minutes and Munster once again found themselves within striking distance after a penalty kicked upfield was sliced into touch by Connacht full-back Mack Hansen. This time the lineout was stolen.
The opening half ended with Munster 6-3 to the good but minus O’Donoghue, who also left the action on the back of the stretcher cart with what appeared to be a knee injury, the victim of an illegal no arms clearout by Connacht wing Byron Ralston.
It earned Ralston a yellow card on the cusp of half-time and Munster a further opportunity to exploit for the first 10 minutes of the second period.
Yet it was Connacht how made the most of Ralston’s visit to the sin-bin, Hanrahan leveling with a penalty in the 46th minute after Munster flanker Tom Ahern had been penalised for playing Blade not the ball.
Connacht got a further lift when Butler sent the Munster restart out on the full and from the scrum set the visiting lineout a further challenge 22 metres out from their tryline. The Munster set-piece was this time executed well but the concession of a penalty soon after gave Connacht the ball in similar position, only for the incessant rain to claim another victim when the ball was knocked on as it was played off the top of the home lineout.
It had all eaten up Ralston’s 10-minute absence, and though Tony Butler restored Munster’s lead on 57 minutes, Hanrahan levelled once more to make it 9-9 with his successful kick on the hour.
The former Munster fly-half, who joined Connacht from Dragons in pre-season, then put Connacht back in front on 67 minutes after his forwards had earned a scrum penalty and the home side sat on a 12-9 lead with 10 minutes remaining with six Munster replacements still unused.
Hanrahan then punished another Munster moment of inaccuracy, this time from three metres over the halfway line, the Galway crowd erupting in delight as his long-range punt sent Connacht into a six-point lead with nine minutes to play.
Munster finally made a strategic move, sending on former Connacht midfielder Sean O’Brien and removing Butler as Rory Scannell moved from 12 to 10 but it was too little too late.
Hanrahan missed an even longer-range penalty from halfway but when Connacht exploited another Munster lineout mess and replacement prop Jack Aungier struck from close range the former Munster man drove the final nail into his former province’s coffin with the conversion.
M Hansen (off injured 75); B Ralston, C Forde (J Carty, 10), B Aki, S Bolton; JJ Hanrahan, C Blade – captain (M McDonald, 65); P Dooley (D Buckley, 53), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin, 64), F Bealham (J Aungier, 57); D Murray (N Murray, 53), J Joyce (O Dowling, 71); C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton (C Oliver, 60), J Butler.
S Zebo; C Nash, A Frisch, R Scannell, S Daly; T Butler (S O’Brien, 71), C Murray (P Patterson, 74); J Loughman (J Wycherley, 76), S Buckley, O Jager (J Ryan, 12); G Coombes. T Beirne - captain; T Ahern, J Hodnett (B Gleeson, 76), J O’Donoghue (A Kendellen, 40).
Replacements not used: C Moore, S McCarthy.
Chris Busby (IRFU).
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