Munster 31 London Irish 23:Tony McGahan's young side continued their impressive pre-season campaign with a comfortable victory over a more experienced Exiles outfit in front of 7,000 supporters at Musgrave Park tonight.
Academy winger Danny Barnes scored a try in each half and he was one of a number of impressive performances from some of the emerging talent in the province.
Hooker Damien Varley got over the line after five minutes, with Jeremy Manning adding the extras before Ryan Lamb narrowed the gap with a penalty for the visitors.
Three tries in the opening half that left them 21-3 in front and a second try for Danny Barnes in the second converted by Paul Warwick who also added a penalty helped Munster to a 31-23 victory over London Irish
The home side struggled with a physical Irish side before storming into a 21-3 half-time with tries from flanker Tommy O’Donnell and Barnes’s first, with Manning converting on both occasions.
A try from Sailosi Tagicakibau that Lamb converted before adding a penalty got them within eight points, only for Barnes to grab his second try. Manning converted to push the score out to 28-13.
The Exiles fought back again with a Jamie Lennard drop goal and a converted try from substitute George Stowers. But Paul Warwick’s long-range penalty gave Munster enough breathing room to see out the victory.
Munster.D Hurley; D Riordan, T Gleeson, P Warwick (capt), D Barnes; J Manning, T Morland, D Ryan, D Varley, T Buckley, B Holland, I Nagle, T O'Donnell, D Leamy, N Ronan.
Replacements:F Jones for Hurley, P Stringer for Morland, J Brugnaut for Ryan, M O'Driscoll for Leamy, D Fogarty for Varley (all half time.), S. Deasy for Manning (52), S Archer for Buckley (60), E Grace for Holland (73), R O'Mahony for Barnes (76)
London Irish:D Armitage (capt); A Thompstone, T Homer, C Gower, S Tagicakibau; R Lamb, P Richards; D Murphy, D Paice, P Ion, G Johnson, K Roche, R Thorpe, S Armigage, C Hala'Ufia.
Replacements:J Lennard for Homer (38), P Hodgson for Richards (half time), C Dermody for Murphy, J Buckland for Paice, N Kennedy for Roche, A Perry for Ion, P Hodgson for Richards, D Danaher for S Armitage, J Fisher for Thorpe, G Stowers for Hala'Ufia (all 57).
