Hanrahan boot ends Connacht slump but injuries pile up for glum Rowntree

JJ Hanrahan consigned his former province to a third defeat in a row with five penalties and a conversion

BKT United Rugby Championship, The Sportsground, Galway 1/1/2024

URC: Connacht 22 Munster 9 

Munster’s misery continued on a rain-drenched New Year’s Day afternoon at The Sportsground that is likely to reverberate much further into 2024 following another bad dose of injuries to key players.

It was JJ Hanrahan who consigned his former province to a third defeat in a row with five penalties and a conversion of Jack Aungier’s 77th-minute try to claim this URC derby for Connacht and end a five-match losing run of their own. It leaves reigning champions Munster winless since December 1.

“Happy New Year” grumbled Munster boss Graham Rowntree as he took his seat for the post-match media debrief and it was easy to forgive his less-than-cheerful delivery. The head coach had lost forwards Oli Jager and Jack O’Donoghue to first-half injuries, having seen two of his starting pack, Eoghan Clarke and Fineen Wycherley, withdrawn before kick-off, adding the already lengthy injury list that does not bode well for the southern province’s next assignment, a crucial Champions Cup pool visit to Toulon on January 13.

“We’re not winning games but we’re not getting smashed in games either,” Rowntree said. “We’re doing lots of good things, (but) high turnover of players, lots of moving parts. We’re sticking in games.

“We’ve got to learn from games quickly. When the parts are moving consistently, changing personnel, it’s difficult.

“A rut? Yeah, a rut where we’re not winning games, yeah, we are in a rut. We’re not winning games but we’re not getting blown away.

“That game got away from us in the last 90 seconds.” 

Connacht, too, had their injury issues and one in particular will concern Ireland boss Andy Farrell, with World Cup wing Mack Hansen assisted from the field nursing a shoulder injury in the dying minutes, four weeks out from the Six Nations opener against France in Marseille.

It was Munster who started brightest in the gloom and driving Galway rain as Gavin Coombes, switched last-minute from No.8 to the second row following Wycherley’s withdrawal, charged down Caolin Blade’s box kick and followed 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 and more ill luck followed.

Jager left the field in a neck brace and strapped into a stretcher cart on 12 minutes, the tighthead prop 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 unhappiness, former player 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 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 who made the most of Ralston’s visit to the sin-bin, Hanrahan leveling with a penalty in the 46th minute.

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 a 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 sent over a penalty kick from three metres over the halfway line. Although he missed an even longer-range penalty from halfway, Connacht soon exploited another Munster lineout mess and replacement prop Aungier struck from close range, allowing the former Munster man to seal the win with the conversion.

CONNACHT: 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.

MUNSTER: 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.

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)