Connacht - 0 Munster - 3: There was a sense of déjà vu about the Galway Sportsground yesterday, as a post-Christmas Celtic League fixture between Munster and Connacht finished on the same scoreline as last January's game in Athlone.
Once again it was Munster who prevailed, with a first-half penalty from outhalf Paul Burke, but on this occasion it was hardly a classic, as it was ruined as a spectacle by the atrocious weather conditions.
Munster, with six of their eight European Cup final players in their pack, had the edge in that area throughout - a superior scrum, lineout, and penalty count. Yet on three occasions, attacking the home side's line, Connacht repelled them, winning vital penalties to take the pressure off.
"It's a great tribute to our pack. It was always going to be tough but they stood up to the Munster pack and took a point out of it," said Connacht coach Michael Bradley. "There were few enough chances and it was a bit of a dogfight up front and in the end Munster won. I think they controlled the ball better in the second half and that made the difference."
If the 4,500 crowd had been hoping for a festive spectacle, Connacht had been hoping for a dry day with the hope of attacking Munster out wide. They got precious little opportunity - only one in the second half when lock Christian Short could not control the touchdown after a block from Burke's clearance. It was the sort of score that could well have won the game, for neither side was capable of putting together more than a couple of phases.
"We wanted to play rugby," said Munster coach Alan Gaffney, "but we could not get the ball out wide in the treacherous conditions. Certainly not a classic game, but we are happy enough to get a result.
"Five times we got into scoring positions, and although they defended very well, there were some chances we did not take.
"Those sort of conditions you just cannot prepare for - it is not attractive for anyone - but certainly we would be happy to take a 3-0 win over Leinster next week."
Munster , forcing the pace in the opening half, kicked themselves into scoring positions, but failed to take advantage, somewhat "naïvely", according to Gaffney. Yet, content to let Burke and Christian Cullen play for position, they looked lacklustre in attack and did little to capitalise on a one-sided penalty count.
Burke struck his match-winning penalty after nine minutes from the 22, but was wide with another effort after 29 minutes. And when a penalty kick to touch provided the best scoring platform late in the half, Connacht's doggedness surfaced.
After pushing forward en masse, Jerry Flannery and Anthony Foley were both halted before Connacht won a valuable penalty to relieve the pressure.
Three late, first-half penalties for the home side put a better gloss on the 11-5 count by half time, but Connacht made life difficult for themselves with countless knock-ons which marred their best efforts at enterprising play. They did have a penalty chance after 53 minutes, but outhalf Paul Warwick was short from 45 metre, and as the war of attrition continued Munster had the edge up front.
The sin-binning of Flannery after 51 minutes made little difference as Munster shaded the contest, particularly in the scrums and lineouts. And although Connacht rallied in the final 10 minutes, losing seven of eight line-outs after the introduction of Bernard Jackman did not help their cause.
Scoring sequence: 9 mins: Burke penalty 0-3. Half time 0-3; Full time 0-3.
Yellow cards: Munster: J Flannery (51 mins).
CONNACHT: M Mostyn; T Robinson, D Yapp, J Downey, C McPhillips; P Warwick, T Tierney; R Hogan, J Fogarty, P Bracken, C Short, A Farley, J Muldoon, M Lacey, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: E Elwood for Robinson, B Jackman for Fogarty (59 mins), M Swift for O'Sullivan (65), C Keane for Tierney (73).
MUNSTER: C Cullen; P Devlin, J Storey, J Holland, A Horgan; P Burke, E Reddan; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, S Keogh, D Leamy, A Foley. Replacements: S Payne for Storey (59 mins), A Quinlan for Keogh, M Prendergast for Reddan (both 64).
