Williams stars in Munster success
A second half hat-trick of tries from former Auckland Blues No.8 Nick Williams helped Munster to a comfortable 27-3 victory over Paul Turner's Newport-Gwent Dragons on Sunday evening.
With the half time score locked at 3-all few would have predicted a four-try second half display from Munster but, thanks to Williams and early replacement Doug Howlett, the defending Magners League Champions were able to secure a bonus point victory at Thomond Park.
A late change to the Munster starting lineup saw new recruit Jean De Villiers drafted into the starting lineup for the home side. Just over a week after arriving in the country, the Springbok centre paired up with Lifeimi Mafi for the first time and enjoyed a good runout with his new team.
Eight minutes into the game Munster were forced into another change - Barry Murphy leaving the field with New Zealand flyer Howlett coming on off the bench.
With both teams struggling to string any real attacking play together the first half was short of scoring opportunitues.
Ronan O'Gara, making his first start of the season, missed one penalty attempt after 27 minutes but his half back partner, Tomas O'Leary, was more successful, slotting a long range effort on 35 minutes.
A couple minutes before the break James Arlidge leveled the scores but the second half was set to be an entirely different affair.
Just five minutes into the second period Williams scored the first of his three tries, taking the score to 8-3 in favour of the home side.
An altercation in the 56th minute then saw both O'Gara and Shaun Connor yellow carded but it was Munster who reacted best to being a man down. A minute after losing their flyhalf Williams grabbed his second and put the Irish side in control.
Seven minutes later, still without their full compliment of players, Munster put the game to bed as Howlett went over in the corner for his sides third try of the night.
Williams secured the bonus point and completed his personal feat with seven minutes left on the clock. Perhaps the one disappointing note for Munster on the night though was the kicking of O'Gara from the tee. The Lions star missed all three of his shots at goal with their only two successful efforts of the night coming from O'Leary.
For the Dragons the result will be a huge disappointment after a positive start to the season. While few teams head to Thomond Park expecting to come away with anything, the Dragons gave themselves a chance with a spirited first half performance, only to let themselves down in the second period.
The Scorers
For Munster
Tries: Williams 3, Howlett
Pen: O'Leary
Cons: O'Leary
For Dragons
Pen: Arlidge
The teams:
Munster: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Felix Jones, 13 Barry Murphy, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Denis Hurley, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Nick Williams. 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Donncha O'Callaghan, 4 Mick O'Driscoll, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Denis Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Damian Varley, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 James Coughlan, 20 Toby Morland, 21 Jeremy Manning, 22 Jean de Villiers.
Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Aled Brew, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Ashley Smith (c), 11 Richard Fussell, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 James Harris, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Nigel Hall, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Duane Goodfield, 17 Ali McKenzie, 18 Gethin Robinson, 19 Grant Webb, 20 Hoani MacDonald, 21 Shaun Connor, 22 Danny Lee.
Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU)
Assistant Referees: J Carvill (IRFU), D Connolly (IRFU)
TMO: Brian Fitzgerald (IRFU)