RUGBY/ MAGNERS LEAGUE Munster 50 Dragons 6: RESPONDING TO Leinster's 50-pointer on Friday night, Munster did likewise in Musgrave Park yesterday with a seven-try mauling of the Dragons.
No less than the Magners League champions, the European champions have hit the ground running and are bursting out of their skins. Their head-to-head at the RDS two weeks hence will be as fascinating as ever.
As with Leinster, Munster's first-up tackling drew the lines in the sand, for they had to play chunks of the game defending.
What blips there were here concerned Nigel Owens's high penalty count against the home side, the prevailing mess that is the line-outs, occasionally sloppy restarts and, if only briefly at the start, a failure to commit sufficiently to the breakdown. But once the hits went in and the forwards began clearing ball quickly, Munster's array of gamebreakers and pace merchants looked like cutting the Dragons open almost at will.
What is it with youngsters and hat-tricks lately? As with Luke Fitzgerald on Friday night, so it was the 20-year-old Keith Earls (21 next month) underlined his burgeoning talent. Quick, dynamic, strong and a real footballer, in only his second competitive start, he followed on from three tries in two pre-season games and a try on his League debut against Edinburgh with three here and another man-of-the-match award.
All seven tries came from the backs, Paul Warwick, polished, pacy and full of ideas, and Doug Howlett adding two apiece.
The lines of running and support play reflected the emphasis on this aspect of Munster's game on the training ground and the enthusiasm bubbling within the squad for each player to get hands on the ball and make an impact.
The conveyor belt is chugging along, Donncha Ryan having a big game and Mick O'Driscoll clearly inspired by the task of captaincy.
It wasn't long before Munster warmed the crowd up, albeit after James Arlidge opened the scoring with a penalty for the Dragons.
After O'Driscoll had been driven back when he went around the fringe David Wallace came to his rescue and used his pace and footwork to draw in the defence and create space out wide with a pass to Warwick, whose skip pass to Ian Dowling enabled the winger to put Earls over for his first.
There were big double hits by O'Driscoll and Freddy Pucciariello; Tomás O'Leary and Donncha O'Callaghan shunted Rhodri Gomer-Davies into touch, and from the ensuing lineout, Warwick crosskicked expertly for Dowling to catch on the run, beat Tal Selley and link inside with Earls before the red wave of support arrived; Lifeimi Mafi and O'Driscoll kept the move alive for Warwick to steam onto the latter's pass and score under the posts.
If his first was a routine run-in for Earls, his second showed his class. Mafi made a typical pick-up off his toes from Warwick's pass to move the ball on to the young full-back inside halfway, Earls dummying a switch pass to Ian Dowling before accelerating and chipping ahead, then nonchalantly chipped the ball on the run into his hands yards from the line. It stood up to repeated viewing on the big screen, drawing admiring gasps from the crowd each time.
Despite Munster spending much of the second quarter in defensive mode, big hits in midfield by Mafi and Barry Murphy kept the Dragons at bay and the latter nearly earned the bonus point with an attempted intercept.
Munster's fourth came soon after the interval. Mafi was the creator, his footwork transfixing defenders and creating the space for Earls. Shown the inside channel by Selley, he gladly accepted.
Job done, Munster lapsed a little into minimalist mode, though the string of penalties against them was a major factor. But the sinbinning of Frankie Sheahan for not rolling away served only to galvanise their defensive effort again, and when Gethin Robinson was binned, Munster availed of the extra space.
John O'Sullivan athletically stole one long throw too many by the Dragons, and galloped from outside the Munster 22 to the Dragons 22, beating Arlidge before Warwick steamed up on his shoulder to run in the try.
Enter Howlett. From an O'Driscoll lineout steal, Warwick bounced off a high tackle and cut through from inside his own 22, Howlett this time steaming up on his shoulder 40 metres out. As Howlett put the afterburners on to leave Richard Fussell and Arlidge grasping air, it was like watching a knife through butter.
A neat blindside move off an attacking scrum in injury time, with O'Sullivan and Peter Stringer wrapping around Mafi's straight line, saw the scrumhalf put Howlett over in the corner. Warwick converted from the right touchline to bring up the 50 and his own quarter-century with the last kick. Neatly done all round.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4 mins: Arlidge pen 0-3; 6: Earls try, Warwick con 7-3; 21: Warwick try and con 14-3; 25: Earls try 19-3 (half-time 19-3); 48: Arlidge pen 19-6; 57: Earls try, Warwick con 26-6; 68: Warwick pen 29-6; 76: Warwick try and con 36-6; 79: Howlett try, Warwick con 43-6; 82: Howlett try, Warwick con 50-6.
MUNSTER: K Earls; D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; P Warwick, T O'Leary; M Horan, F Sheahan, F Pucciariello; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll (capt); D Ryan, J O'Sullivan, D Wallace. Replacements: J Melck for Wallace (56 mins), P Stringer for O'Leary (59 mins), Denis Hurley for Dowling (64 mins), J Flannery for O'Sullivan (65-74 mins), Darragh Hurley for Horan (70 mins). Not used: P O'Connell, R O'Gara. Sinbinned: Sheahan (64-74 mins).
DRAGONS: J Arlidge; T Selley, R Sidey, RG Davies, A Smith, R Fussell; S Connor, W Evans; H Gustafson, T Willis (capt), R Thomas; A Jones, L Charteris; D Lydiate, J Ringer, G Webb. Replacements: G Wyatt for Selley (59 mins), S Jones for Willis, G Robinson for Thomas, R Lewis for Evans (all 60 mins), A Brown for Lydiate, J Bearman for Jones, R Parks for Webb (all 68 mins). Sinbinned: Robinson (67-77 mins).
Referee: Nigel Owens(WRU).
