Four yellow cards and late drama as Munster squeeze past Edinburgh

A Michael Milne brace along with tries from Andrew Smith and Fineen Wycherley earned Munster the bonus point win while Edinburgh had four players yellow carded.

Munster's Michael Milne celebrates scoring a try with Brian Gleeson and Fineen Wycherley. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

URC: Munster 20 Edinburgh 19

Munster kept their winning start to the new URC season alive with a third straight win in Cork on Friday night, but it was a close-run thing for Clayton McMillan’s side who had Edinburgh's ill-discipline to thank for their good fortune.

Four yellow cards from the visitors denied them the opportunity to stage another victory at Virgin Media Park after Edinburgh nearly derailed Munster’s URC campaign last February with a deserved 34-28 victory.

Lightning did not strike twice, though a second win in a row here would have had merit, as Munster dug deep with two tries from prop Michael Milne and scores either side from wing Andrew Smith and lock Fineen Wycherley delighting a sell-out 8,800 crowd with a third win from three for their new head coach.

Having lost the physical battle at the breakdown in the first half against Cardiff in a 23-20 win at Thomond Park six days earlier, McMillan and his coaching staff had stressed the importance of winning collisions on their next outing but the message appeared to have fallen on deaf ears in the opening 40 minutes at Virgin Media Park. Munster had taken the lead on two minutes after some quick thinking at a short lineout inside their own half caught the Scotsmen napping, wings Calvin Nash and Andrew Smith combining well down the left. It was Nash’s kick ahead that sent Smith chasing and when Edinburgh’s Darcy Graham misjudged the bouncing ball, the former Connacht wing was well placed to seize on the loose ball, putting his side into an early 5-0 lead.

Edinburgh, prompted by sharp half-back play from Ben Vellacott and former Munster fly-half Ben Healy, were quickly back on terms, their dominant ruck physicality eking a penalty inside the 22. The resulting lineout produced a driving maul finished by hooker Ewan Ashman to level the scores on seven minutes.

The pressure continued from the visitors with Vellacott kicking into the corner and a botched Munster lineout, the first of four from the misfiring set-piece in the opening half, allowed the Edinburgh scrum-half for a 15th minute try from close range, Healy’s conversion opening a 12-5 lead.

A game-ending injury to tighthead prop Oli Jager on 23 minutes gave the Munster management a further headache but the home side finally found some momentum as the half wore on and their first bout of possession inside the Edinburgh 22 paid dividends as visiting lock, replacement Glen Young was yellow carded in the 28th minute. The five-metre lineout that resulted from Young’s offside offence was another blown opportunity but Munster gained another leg up when prop D’arcy Rae followed Young into the bin two minutes later, albeit for a high tackle which ended Mike Haley’s night following a Head Injury Assessment.

It did leave Munster with a 15 v 13 advantage and they made it count as prop Michael Milne finished off a lineout drive from five metres out. Trailing 10-12 as half-time approached, it should have counted for more but once again Munster’s lineout undermined their efforts after a penalty had given them the ideal platform to take the lead and McMillan’s men went in for the interval still two points adrift.

It got worse shortly after the break as Darcy Graham collected a neat crossfield kick wide on the right and ran behind the posts for the simplest of finishes, allowing Healy a comfortable conversion to make it 19-10.

Munster had introduced lock Edwin Edogbo for his first involvement in 22 months after a serious Achilles injury when Edinburgh handed their hosts another lifeline through their indiscipline, replacement back rower Freddy Douglas the third yellow card of the night for the Scots on 53 minutes.

Again, Munster hit back with their numerical advantage as Milne claimed his second of the night, this time from open play to make it 15-19 five minutes later.

And still Edinburgh reached for the self destruct button, this time captain Magnus Bradbury seeing yellow for a croc roll on replacement hooker Lee Barron with 69 minutes on the clock.

This time Munster edged ahead, Fineen Wycherley with the go-ahead try, his side’s fourth bringing up a bonus point, in the 74th to make it 20-19 with another five minutes to play with a man extra. 

The home supporters were on their feet once more as Gavin Coombes crashed over for what seemed like a match-clinching try with two minutes to go only for referee Ben Whitehouse to be told by his TMO there had been a knock-on. 

It made for a nervy closing minute as Edinburgh tried to advance from a five-metre defensive scrum. The set-piece accrued a penalty and another gave Healy the chance to kick his side into the Munster half. Their maul once again proved dominant as it rolled into the home 22 but hopes of a Healy drop goal on his old home ground came to nought as Munster got the decision from Whitehouse when the maul was sacked to end the game. Munster had escaped with the winning start intact, but only just.

MUNSTER: M Haley (D Kelly, 30 - HIA); C Nash, T Farrell, S O’Brien, A Smith; JJ Hanrahan (T Butler, 69), P Patterson (E Coughlan, 60); M Milne (J Wycherley, 61), D Barron – captain (L Barron, 52), O Jager (J Ryan, 23); J Kleyn (E Edogbo, 55), F Wycherley; J O’Donoghue, R Quinn (B Gleeson, 46), G Coombes.

EDINBURGH: W Goosen; D Graham (H Paterson, 69-74), P O’Conor (P Hill, 35 – FRR for YC), J Lang, D van der Merwe; B Healy, B Vellacott (C Shiel, 77); P Schoeman (B Venter, 49), E Ashman (P Harrison, 66), D Rae (P Hill, 49); M Sykes (G Young, 18-38 HIA incl YC), S Skinner; L McConnell (F Douglas, 49), D Richardson (B Muncaster, 49), M Bradbury – captain.

Yellow cards: G Young 28-38, D Rae 30-40, F Douglas 53-43 Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)