Munster machine marches on
Munster were full of running on Saturday night, outclassing Treviso 44-7 in their Heineken Cup Pool One clash in Italy and, as a result, have kept themselves in pole position for a spot in the Heineken Cup quarterfinals.
Three tries inside the opening 20 minutes set the Irish side on their way to victory.
The first of those came after just four minutes with captain Paul O'Connell providing the final pass for wing Denis Hurley to finish in the corner. Impressive fullback Keith Earls was heavily involved and the early score, following some attacking play from the Irish side, signaled their intent.
Two minutes later and they were at it again. This time it was Doug Howlett and Earls who combined well, using there pace and power to create the chance for the outside centre to score.
Just eleven minutes into the game then Donncha O’Callaghan struck what was probably the killer blow. Fullback Paul Warwick made the break but the Lions second row was on hand to finish off and give the visitors a 17-0 lead.
Italian flank Alessandro Zanni scored an interception try after 24 minutes to give his home fans something to shout about but two O’Gara penalties, to go with Warwick’s try on 33 minutes, saw the Magners League champs go into the break 30-7 ahead. Warwick’s try was a bit of class - a good break from halfway, a chip and chase, and he was in under the posts.
To their credit Treviso came out firing in the second half. The Italians were trailing by 23 points but clearly believed they still had something to prove in front of their home fans.
Munster though simply were too experienced to be dogged down for too long - withstanding the pressure from the home side before launching their own attacks again.
The visitors scored two second half tries of their own, through Earls and replacement Donncha Ryan, with Ryan's effort coming with the last movement of the game.
Victory puts Munster up on to 20 points in Pool One, seven clear of Northampton who play Perpignan at Franklin's Gardens.
For Treviso
Try: Zanni
Con: Goosen
For Munster
Tries: Hurley, Earls 2, O’Callaghan, Ryan
Pen: O’Gara 2
Cons: O’Gara 3, Warwick
The teams:
Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrew Vilk, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Benjamin de Jager, 10 Marius Goosen, 9 Simon Picone, 8 Dion Kingi, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Benjamin Vermaak, 5 Cornelius van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Augusto Allori, 18 Pedro di Santo, 19 Enrico Pavanello, 20 Marco Filippucci, 21 Silvio Orlando, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Tobias Botes.
Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 David Wallace, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 James Coughlan, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Lifeimi Mafi, 23 Ian Dowling.
Venue: Stadio Comunale di Monigo
Venue: Welford Road
Referee: James Jones (Wales)