Cardiff make a big URC statement

MATCH REPORT: Cardiff put down a big marker with a 20-13 win over Munster on Saturday at Cardiff Arms Park.

Cardiff dominated for large swathes and had plenty of bright moments in the lively encounter. And while the scoreboard never looked convincing they did enough to claim a first victory over Munster in seven attempts, to the delight of the home crowd.

Ben Healy kicked two penalties for Munster in the first half but Cardiff led 12-6 at the interval thanks to a try late in the half from Kristian Dacey.

Jack O’Sullivan scored Munster’s only try on 62 minutes with Jack Crowley’s conversion putting the visitors 13-12 ahead but a Jarrod Evans penalty and Alex Summerhill’s late try saw Cardiff run out winners.

Handling errors proved costly for Munster with Cardiff excellent at the breakdown throughout, never allowing Munster to build up any momentum.

Cardiff hit the front early on as Max Llewellyn burst through to score on three minutes after he wasn’t held in the tackle with Jarrod Evans wide with the conversion.

A maul penalty for Munster after 16 minutes saw Healy drill over a very tricky kick from the left wing to reduce the margin to two points.

Liam Coombes was inches from scoring in the left corner after a Fekitoa break but Munster had the advantage with Healy’s second penalty making it 6-5 as Munster took the lead for the first time.

Cardiff regained the lead just before the break with a well-worked move as Llewellyn broke through again and offloaded for Kristian Dacey to score.

Jarrod Evans converted and Cardiff ended the half 12-6 ahead.

Replacement John Hodnett made a big intervention on 50 minutes as he was illegally cleared out at a ruck to win Munster the penalty with Cardiff looking dangerous.

The lively Patterson made a great break down the blindside and offloaded to O’Donoghue but the ball went loose with Taulupe Faletau clearing and Shane Daly had to make a vital tackle on Tom Young after the ball had popped up perfectly for the Cardiff flank.

Munster retook the lead just past the hour as Jean Kleyn won a breakdown penalty and Crowley kicked Munster up to the Cardiff 22.

Fekitoa and Jack O’Sullivan carried well in the build-up with O’Sullivan eventually scoring from close range. Crowley kicked the conversion to give Munster a 13-12 lead with 16 minutes to go.

It was Cardiff who finished the stronger side as James Botham nearly jinked over in the left corner and Munster were penalised for offside with Evans’ penalty making it 15-13 to the hosts.

Fekiota and fellow debutant Antoine Frisch, on as a replacement, combined well with the lively Patterson making great ground but Cardiff were able to counter off his kick in behind.

Replacement Uilisi Halaholo showed great feet in midfield to set up Alex Summerhill for Cardiff’s third try late on with Evans’ conversion off target.

Coombes did superbly to take the restart and give Munster a final chance to snatch a draw but Cardiff again proved too strong at the breakdown as they won back possession and saw out the match.

The scorers:

For Cardiff:

Tries: Llewellyn, Dacey, Summerhill

Con: Crowley

Pen: Evens

For Munster:

Try: O'Sullivan

Pens: Healy 2

Teams

Cardiff: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Botham, 5 Seb Davies, 4 Josh Turnbull (captain), 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Carré.

Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Dmitri Arhip, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Uilisi Halaholo.

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Paddy Patterson, 8 Jack O’Sullivan, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley.

Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Rory Scannell.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Assistant referees: Ben Breakspear (Wales) AR 2: Mike English (Wales)

TMO: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

Source: @MunsterRugby