Edinburgh earn bonus point win against sloppy Munster

Munster did manage to pick up two bonus points.

Ben Muncaster of Edinburgh, centre, celebrates after a turnover in possession during the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Edinburgh at Virgin Media Park in Cork. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile

URC: Munster 28 Edinburgh 34  

Munster’s hopes of securing a home URC quarter-final suffered a serious setback as Edinburgh scored a bonus-point victory in Cork on Friday night.

In a week which saw the province announce Chiefs boss Clayton McMillan as their new head coach for next season and club icons Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony declare their intentions to hang up their red jerseys this summer, an understrength Munster failed to have anywhere near the same impact, though they did claim both try and losing bonus-points at the death.

It was not what assistant coach Denis Leamy had in mind earlier in the week when he stressed the importance of maintaining recent good form after back-to-back URC wins lifted them into the play-off places.

They kicked off just three points off the top-four places which guarantee a home berth in the last eight of the knockout rounds. Yet this defeat in front of an 8,800 sell-out crowd at Virgin Media Park has made that objective altogether more difficult with just six games of the regular season remaining.

The one huge positive on a deeply disappointing night was a barnstorming return from injury from Alex Nankivell, a double try scorer from inside centre, yet it was a hat-trick of tries from Edinburgh wing and man of the match Matt Currie which stole the show.

The Scottish side had their try bonus point by half-time as they cut through Munster’s defence with ease during a devastating second quarter for the home side that saw Edinburgh score their tries in pairs on 24 and 28 minutes, and 35 and 40.

They had taken an early lead with a Ross Thompson penalty on five minutes before Munster looked to have got the upper hand with a try from centre Alex Nankivell, the New Zealander marking his comeback from a two-month injury lay-off with a try after 14 minutes converted by Billy Burns.

Yet that proved to be the high watermark of the opening half for the home side as Edinburgh, who started the game in ninth, six points behind their hosts, began to cut loose. With Moises Tuipulotu doing an excellent impression of his elder brother Sione, the injured Scotland captain, the visitors began to carve open Munster’s defence, the inside centre’s short pass putting back rower Ben Muncaster through a gap before the flanker sent the ball onto Thompson for the Scots’ try, which he converted himself.

Edinburgh’s second came four minutes later, as they found opportunity through right wing Currie, Thompson converting from the touchline to give his side a 17-7 lead ahead of the half-hour mark.

Munster had had their fair share of possession but had not made any inroads and were made to pay when Edinburgh hit them with another double whammy, Currie striking again in the right corner on 35 minutes before they rounded out the opening 40 in style. Their bonus-point try stemmed from a scrum penalty, Thompson’s kick finding right touch on the Munster 22. From there their lineout delivered the platform for No.8 Magnus Bradbury to power over from 15 metres out. Thompson’s third conversion ended the half with Munster in disarray and facing an uphill battle from 29-7 down.

Munster rallied briefly after the interval when Nankivell claimed his second of the night on 51 minutes, Burns converting to narrow the gap to 15 points at 29-14.

They were Munster’s first points in 37 minutes yet continuing problems at scrum-time were undermining their efforts to stage a meaningful comeback and when, five minutes later Currie dashed over for his third try of the night in the right-hand corner, the game looked up for Munster.

Yet Munster dug in and gave the capacity crowd hope of comeback when full-back Ben O’Connor got over for his side’s third try, Tony Butler, on for Burns, converting to make it a two-score game at 34-21.

A yellow card for Edinburgh replacement Paddy Harrison on Butler ended the Munster fly-half’s evening five minutes before time as he was removed for a Head Injury Assessment, aiding the search for a losing bonus-point and it duly came as the clock hit 80 minutes. 

From a scrum Munster moved the ball across the width of the pitch with Nankivell completing an encouraging return to fitness with a cross-field kick into Sean O’Brien’s path on the right wing, the replacement marking his first appearance in four months with a try that also delivered a try-bonus point. It had the crowd on their feet in celebration but it may turn out to be slim pickings for a Munster squad with loftier ambitions.

MUNSTER: B O’Connor; C Nash (S O’Brien, ht), T Farrell, A Nankivell, S McCarthy; B Burns (T Butler, 59-75 - HIA; Burns 75), E Coughlan (P Patterson, 51); J Wycherley (M Donnelly, 56), N Scannell (D Barron, 46), J Ryan (S Archer, ht); E O’Connell (A Kendellen, ht), F Wycherley; T Ahern, J Hodnett, B Gleeson (R Quinn, 59).

EDINBURGH: W Goosen; M Currie (M Bennett, 65), J Lang, M Tuipulotu (C Scott, 75), R McCann; R Thompson, B Vellacott – captain (A Price, 67); B Venter (R Hislop, 65), E Ashman (P Harrison, ht), P Hill (D Rae, 65); M Sykes (G Young, 65), S Skinner; L Crosbie (H Watson, 5), B Muncaster (77, Ashman - YC FR replacement), M Bradbury.

Yellow card: P Harrison 75 Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)