Munster 24
In heavy underfoot conditions in the Welsh capital, Munster cured their away day blues with a hard earned but deserved victory over the Cardiff Blues.
With both sides shorn of their international contingent, Munster coach Rob Penney will be delighted with how his side ground out this win on the road. For his counterpart Phil Davies, defeat was a hard pill to swallow and continues their losing streak in all competitions. He will take some comfort from this spirited performance particularly after their very meek surrender at the RDS last week.
Munster lined out with Ronan O’Gara at outhalf with the Irish Management wanting him to prove his fitness following his recent hamstring strain and prior to the start of the Autumn Internationals next week. The Corkman showed no ill effects from his lay off with a very accomplished performance from the boot with the only blot on his book being his sinbinning in the 16th minute for a foot in the ruck. Ian Keatley was therefore switched to inside centre and showed all his ball playing ability in this position but will be disappointed that Cardiiff’s first try just after half time came from a break down his channel. Felix Jones also came through the 80 minutes unscathed, showing glimpses of his eye for a break on a couple of occasions and did his chances of being in the Ireland frame for the No. 15 jersey against South Africa next weekend no harm at all.
Cardiff started the game like a team with a point to prove after last week’s inept display and after a missed penalty in the 3rd minute they took the lead in the 7th minute with a further penalty by Jason Tovey after Munster’s Steven Archer was penalised for being offside.
Rob Penney’s new attacking philosophy was shown to good effect in the 12thminute when, from a Munster lineout just outside their own 22, after multiple phases and deft hands by Keatley on two occasions, Munster backrow Tommy O’Donnell ran over in the corner to open Munster’s account. O’Gara converted to give the men in red a 7-3 advantage.
The tightness of the exchanges continued with Cardiff fullback Dan Fish attacking from deep with every opportunity and backrow Copeland, a Leinster Academy graduate, thundering in to the game at this stage.
O’Gara extended Munster’s lead in the 30th minute from a penalty in front of the posts when the home side were penalised for not rolling way. The Munster scrum was holding up well at this stage with Archer very prominent and culminated in a scrum penalty to Munster in the 35thminute.
On the resumption it took the home side very little time to burst their way back in to the game. After the substitution of the ineffective Tovey for Ceri Sweeney in the 45thminute, the substitute’s first touch of the game was a deft lay off to centre Daffyd Hewitt who burst through Keatley’s tackle and dived unopposed over the line. Sweeney’s conversion tied up the scores at 10-10 and the game was now well and truly on.
The Cardiff tails were now up and after sustained pressure on the Munster defence Jones was penalised in 58th minute for holding on and Sweeney converted to restore the home side’s lead once more at 13-10.
Showing great character however the away team responded immediately with O’Donnell showing all his power and pace to burst on to an O’Gara pass and touch down under the posts. O’Gara converted to restore Munster’s lead at 17-13.
Peter Stringer had replaced Williams at this stage at scrumhalf while Du Preez had also come on for Horan and Nagle for Dave Foley. However, Stringer’s first involvement was not a happy one, when, in the 64th minute, inside his own 22, his attempted clearance was blocked down and Cardiff scrumhalf Lewis Jones gobbled up the rebound and touched down to the delight of the home supporters. Sweeney converted once more to restore the home side’s lead at 18-17.
In true Munster spirit however and possibly sensing the frailties in the home side’s confidence after their recent run of defeats, the men in red continued to build the phases and drive at the Cardiff defence. Their good work was rewarded in the 78thminute, when from another beautiful O’Gara pop pass, centre Lualala ran a beautiful line, burst through two attempted tacklers and touched down to the delight of his teammates and anguish of the home players and fans. O’Gara converted once more to restore Munster’s lead at 24-18 and from which they closed out the game from there.
Man of the Match Tommy O’Donnell gave the management team plenty food for thought with his pace and power after his debut in the No. 8 jersey at senior level. The ongoing battle between Mike Sherry and Damien Varley for the No. 2 jersey will rumble on with Sherry giving his customary all action display in the loose but once again a very mixed night from lineout ball with 6 out of 12 of his own line out throws lost. As mentioned already Ian Keatley showed the benefit of a good ball player with fast hands at inside centre and will add to the management teams options in this position. It was just a pity that last week’s Man of the Match JJ Hanrahan was not given a further opportunity to continue his education at this level but coach Penney will know that his day will come. It was also heartwarming to see Felix Jones get through another 80 minutes unscathed on his way back to full fitness.
Munster now move in to the play off positions and this victory will stand them in good stead for the remaining games during the November internationals. For Cardiff, the nature of this defeat will hurt but encouragement will need to be taken from the performances of Fish and Copeland for the days ahead.
