1st December 2012
Munster 31
Glasgow 3
 |
| C.J. Stander races from his own 22 to touch down leaving Glasgow players in his wake |
When C.J. Stander came
off the bench in Musgrave Park last week in horrendous playing conditions, he
stated afterwards that he did not feel the cold at the time as he was so excited
at making his Munster debut. If the
young Springbok continues to produce performances like this he will be well on
his way to becoming a firm fans favourite in the famous red jersey.
When struggling to
adjust their game plan in the adverse weather conditions last week and against
a dogged Scarlets side, one may have thought that coach Rob Penney would tweak
the game plan a little this time around.
As the saying goes “you need to earn the right to go wide”. However, true to his attacking philosophy
which he has shown since taking over, his charges once more tried to get the
ball wide at every opportunity.
Munster welcomed back their international contingent of Keith Earls, Simon
Zebo, Ronan O’Gara, Donncha Ryan, Donncha O’Callaghan and Dave Kilcoyne to the
fold. After stubborn resistance from Glasgow in the opening ten minutes or so,
the home side took over from there until half time with Stander and the
rampaging Tommy O’Donnell to the fore and had built up a game winning lead by
the half time break. The second half was
all about Munster securing the much needed four try bonus point but credit to
the away side who never threw in the towel either.
After Glasgow outhalf Duncan Weir had overcooked his kick off which went
straight in to touch on the full, he made amends in the second minute when
kicking the visitors in to the lead after Donncha Ryan had been penalised for
not rolling away.
The home side were continuing to play their offloading game but a series
of knock ons etc were frustrating their efforts up to this point. Persistence does pay off however and after a
barnstorming run by O’Donnell from a Munster lineout, he was just help up
short, the ball was recycled and Stander showed great improvisation to stretch
over the mountain of bodies in the ruck and touch down. O’Gara converted to give Munster a 7-3 lead.
The away side
continued to try and punch holes in the home defence with the strength of winger
Lamont very prominent and also the sniping runs of scrumhalf Prygos. And they thought they had regained the lead
in the 17th minute when winger Van der Merwe touched down in the
corner, but after consulting with the TMO, a decision of no try was given as a
foot had been in touch before the ball was grounded. The Warriors continued to put the ball
through the hands and an attempted drop goal by Weir in 19th minute
was just right and wide.
These near misses
seemed to shake the home side in to life.
And when an attempted kick over the top by O’Gara in the 23rd
minute was blocked down, Glasgow failed with their kick to touch, Munster
countered and after a pass by Coughlan to O’Donnell, the Tipperary man handed
off the challenge of Weir and sprinted under the posts. Once again O’Gara converted to give the home
side a 14-3 lead.
The Munster scrum
which had struggled so badly against the Scarlets in the second half last week
were having a lot better day at the office this time around. Kilcoyne in particular was very prominent,
with his opponent Cusack conceding two penalties at scrum time in the first
thirty minutes. And Cusack’s evening got
worse in the 36th minute when he was penalised for checking an O’Gara
run from a chip over. O’Gara converted once
more to extend Munster’s lead to 17-3.
The game was now
running away from Glasgow and unforced errors were starting to creep in to
their game. And one such error was to
prove costly in the 38th minute.
After spilling the ball in the Munster 22, the ball was picked up by
Stander and after a great side step to create space he showed buckets of speed
to outpace winger Van der Merwe to the corner and touch down. Once again O’Gara converted expertly from the
touchline and Munster had a 24-3 lead going in at the half time break.
Munster started the
second half pushing hard for the four try bonus point and they thought they had
achieved it in the 46th minute.
After a trademark cross field kick to the corner by O’Gara, the bouncing
ball was fetched expertly by Mike Sherry and he barged his way to the
corner. However, similar to the Glasgow
attempt in the first half, after consulting with the TMO, no try was allowed as
he was deemed to have touched the line before grounding the ball.
Flanker O’Donnell was
replaced by Paddy Butler in the 49th minute and coach Rob Penney
will hope that the injury is not too serious with the crucial double header
against Saracens in the Heineken Cup coming up over the next two weekends.
The Munster set piece
was now not as strong as it had been in the first half and they were starting
to struggle for primary possession and for a foothold in the Glasgow half to
push for the elusive bonus point.
However, it eventually
came together for them in the 70th minute when awarded a penalty
which was kicked to the corner by O’Gara.
After the initial lineout maul was brought down, Munster went for the
scrum, and after two re-sets, they eventually got the push on and when Glasgow
illegally kicked the ball away, referee Ian Davies was left with no choice but
to run under the posts and award Munster a penalty try. O’Gara once more converted to extend Munster’s
lead to 31-3.
Glasgow had one last
opportunity to put a bit of respectability on the scoreline, but after a kick
chase, the ball was carried in to touch by Earls and the final whistle was
blown.
Coach Rob Penney will be happy with the bonus point return from this
game and also the integration of the international contingent back in to the
team before next weekend’s joust with Saracens at Thomond Park. The injury to Tommy O’Donnell was unfortunate
as, with Niall Ronan also injured, O’Donnell’s pace and explosiveness could be
vital in next weekend’s clash. CJ
Stander also made a very strong case for inclusion and it was good to see James
Coughlan make a welcome return from injury.
A fully fit trio of Stander, O’Donnell and Coughlan might give Munster a
dynamism in the back row which they have lacked in the past couple of seasons. James
Downey also continually made yardage with his bursts and offloads and his
partnership with Keith Earls in the centre dovetailed well at times. Mike Sherry also had a better night from
lineout ball with Munster winning 10 out of 12 of their own throws before he
was replaced by Damian Varley.
Glasgow Head Coach Gregor Townsend will be disappointed that his team
did not take more from this game considering some of scoring opportunities they
created. Along with Lamont and Prygos,
they were also well served by the ever dangerous Stewart Hogg in the centre and
hard working second row Swinson.
Munster now leap frog Glasgow in to the play off positions in the Rabo
Pro12 before the Heineken Cup takes centre stage for the next two
weekends. Munster will hope to make home
advantage count against the English champions while Glasgow will hope to do
likewise when they welcome Castres to Firhill.
Man of the
Match: C.J. Stander (Munster)
Teams and
Scorers:
Munster: F. Jones (I.
Keatley 59 mins), D. Howlett (c), K. Earls, J. Downey, S. Zebo (C. Lualala 65 mins),
R. O’Gara (1 pen, 4 cons), D. Williams (P. Stringer 61 mins), D. Kilcoyne (W.
Du Preez 65 mins), M. Sherry (D. Varley 52 mins), B.J. Botha (S. Archer 67 mins),
Donncha O’Callaghan, D. Ryan (B. Holland 75 mins), C.J. Stander, T. O’Donnell
(P. Butler 49 mins), J. Coughlan Replacements: D. Varley, W. Du Preez, S.
Archer, B. Holland, P. Butler, P. Stringer, I. Keatley, C. Lualala
Glasgow: Murchie,
Lamont, Hogg, Horne, Van der Merwe (McGuigan 61 mins), Weir (1 pen, Wight 49
mins), Prygos (Matawalu 49 mins), Grant (Araoz 61 mins), Hall (MacArthur 55
mins), Cusack, Swinson (Eddie 65 mins), Kellock, Harley, Barclay, Wilson
(Strauss 49 mins) Replacements: MacArthur,
Araoz, Strauss, Eddie, Matawalu, Wight, McGuigan
Refereee: Ian
Davies (Welsh RFU)
Attendance:
8,791
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