Munster edge Connacht in 10-try thriller
MATCH REPORT: Munster opened their United Rugby Championship campaign with a 35-33 win over Connacht in an entertaining Irish derby at Thomond Park.
Debutant halfbacks Josh Ioane and Ben Murphy inspired a rejuvenated Connacht to lead 19-14 at half-time despite Santiago Cordero’s yellow card.
Former Leinster scrumhalf Murphy squeezed in his second try, replying to Munster scores from Alex Nankivell and Mike Haley, as the provincial rivals eventually shared 10 tries.
Connacht replacement David Hawkshaw and Cathal Forde cancelled out efforts from John Hodnett and Gavin Coombes but Tony Butler, Munster’s reserve flyhalf, coolly converted Shane Daly’s 69th-minute try to decide the outcome.
Murphy cut inside Craig Casey off a 13th-minute scrum, connecting with Shayne Bolton out wide, and had Ioane up in support to score Connacht’s opener.
Seven minutes later, Murphy brilliantly collected Ioane’s instinctive offload to go in behind the posts and the New Zealander converted.
After Casey was caught high by Cordero for his yellow card, Nankivell broke out of Conor Oliver’s attempted tackle to cut the gap to five points.
Munster newcomer Billy Burns also converted Haley’s 31st-minute effort, with the tricky full-back stretching out of a Bolton tackle to touch down.
Nonetheless, Ioane’s superb straight line and return pass allowed Murphy to complete his brace just before the break, with Forde adding the extras.
There were four more tries inside the opening 23 minutes of the second half. Hodnett burrowed over and then Hawkshaw zoomed in from a nicely-timed Dave Heffernan pass.
Casey’s tap-and-go set up Coombes to give the hosts a 28-26 lead, only for Forde to muscle over just past the hour mark.
However, Connacht’s dreams of repeating their famous 2015 and 2021 wins in Limerick were dashed when Daly scored from a Haley pass and Butler’s right boot did the rest.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Nankivell, Haley, Hodnett, Coombes, Daly
Cons: Burns 5
For Connacht:
Tries: Ioane, Murphy 2, Hawkshaw, Forde
Cons: Ioane 3, Forde
Yellow card: Santiago Cordero (Connacht, 27)
Teams
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Thaakir Abrahams, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Ruadhán Quinn, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron (captain), 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Oli Jager, 19 Alex Kendellen, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Seán O’Brien.
Connacht: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Cian Prendergast, (captain) 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 David Hawkshaw, 23 Sean Jansen.
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Dan Carson (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
Source: Rugbypass