Munster 28 Edinburgh 14: NORMALLY DURING the Six Nations window Munster have watched their Magners League challenge ebb away, but even without eight of their front-liners, the European champions still managed to carve out a comfortable win, testament in large part to their growing strength-in-depth.
Fringe players were afforded their chance to shine, and they didn’t disappoint, especially Tony Buckley and Denis Fogarty, who were impressive, particularly in the loose. And seasonal debutant Ciarán O’Boyle bagged a try in an eye-catching display.
The returning fringe internationals did bring the essential experience to fashion this win, most of all a pumped-up Denis Leamy, whose action-packed display may have coloured Declan Kidney’s thinking ahead of tomorrow’s Ireland team announcement.
Mistakes did, however, pepper Munster’s play. The accuracy of their passing and recycling needs fine-tuning, while the ball presentation at the breakdown was often untidy, leading to needless turnovers.
But bagging four tries and a bonus point is a decent night’s work by any measure, particularly when achieved by a XV playing competitively for the first time.
As a contest it was often frantic but compelling, but also suffused with a sharp physical edge. Nick Williams and Craig Hamilton set the spiky tone, exchanging a flurry of punches early on, while at the breakdown the abrasive Williams, Leamy and Quinlan thrived.
All in all, the Munster the pack provided the forward momentum that had Edinburgh defending for long periods, forcing the Scots to make basic errors.
Munster were full of running and moved the ball quickly to the outside channels. There, O’Boyle enjoyed a progressive night, carrying competently into contact and kicking some deft touch-finders. And Doug Howlett, as ever, was a class act.
Edinburgh head coach Andy Robinson was clearly enraged with referee Nigel Owens, but he could not be best pleased with his team’s tackling as Howlett wriggled his way over in the corner in the 10th minute. Andrew Turnbull and Ben Cairns will be left more than red-faced at a video session when they look back at their feeble, attempted tackles.
Paul Warwick arced over a sublime touchline conversion and all the momentum was with Munster.
But they were hit against the run of play when the Scots notched an 18th-minute try. Cairns atoned for his earlier mistake, picking up a loose ball after Mafi failed to control possession.
The next try arrived in the 38th minute when Munster capitalised on some brilliant work by Earls, who broke deep into scoring territory. Leamy brought possession closer to the line and, in a flash, Peter Stringer whipped the ball left to Buckley who used his bulk to dot down in the corner. Warwick added the conversion to give the home side 14-7 half time.
In the 57th minute Mafi’s diagonal kick evaded Turnbull and the waiting Earls gathered to canter home behind the posts.
With confidence visibly draining from the faces of the visitors, Munster showed no mercy, notching their bonus-point try in the 64th minute. O’Boyle intercepted a stray Edinburgh pass for an easy run-in from 22 yards.
The visitors were rewarded for their efforts in the 72nd minute when David Blair spotted a mismatch with Freddie Pucciariello before feeding Paterson on his shoulder and the Scotland international dotted down and converted his own try.
MUNSTER: Denis Hurley; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, C O'Boyle; P Warwick, P Stringer; F Pucciariello, D Fogarty, T Buckley; A Quinlan, M O'Driscoll (capt); D Leamy, N Ronan, N Williams. Replacements: Daragh Hurley for Buckley (63 mins), J Manning, B Holland for Hurley, Williams (both 67 mins), T O'Donnell for Ronan (69 mins), M Prendergast for Stringer (70 mins), K Lewis for Earls (76 mins), M Essex for Fogarty (79 mins).
EDINBURGH: C Paterson; A Turnbull, B Cairns, N De Luca, M Robertson; D Blair, G Laidlaw; K Traynor, A Kelly, R Grant; C Hamilton, B Gissing; S Cross, A MacDonald, A Hogg (capt). Replacements: J Thompson for Robertson (55), B McNeil for Traynor, S McLeod for Hamilton, R Reid for Turnbull (all 59 mins), B Meyer for Laidlaw (66 mins), S Lawrie for Kelly (67 mins), S Newlands for Cross (blood, 9-14 mins).
Referee: Nigel Owens(Wales)
