Dragons 30 Munster 24
Munster crashed to a last-gasp defeat at the hands of Newport Gwent Dragons in Wales ahead of their Heineken Cup showdown.
Rob Penney’s men face Clermont Auvergne for a place in the final of Europe next Saturday but they were unable to restore confidence following last weekend’s defeat to Leinster.
They trailed 22-5 at the beginning of the second-half but surged into the lead thanks to quick-fire tries from Ronan O’Mahony, CJ Stander and Johne Murphy.
But it was not enough as the Dragons pounced at the death with Ross Wardle crossing the whitewash with minutes to spare.
With one eye on next week's Heineken Cup semi-final, Rob Penney made wholesale changes to the Munster side that faced Leinster.
Just Denis Hurley, Ian Keatley and Damien Varley remained intact from the defeat while a host of fringe players were given a chance to stake their credentials.
Meanwhile the Dragons, playing their last match of the season at a sun-drenched Rodney Parade, selected a team including Wales stars Andrew Coombs, Dan Lydiate and Toby Faletau.
And while there was nothing riding on the match for the Dragons, it was Lydiate’s last chance to impress Warren Gatland following his return from ankle surgery.
Munster demonstrated a willingness to attack from the off in Newport but the hosts took the lead after Tom Prydie broke a 14 minute deadlock. That however did not last long after Tonderai Chavhanga failed to deal with an Ian Keatley cross-kick and Butler pounced as the grateful recipient.
But Munster’s lead was also short lived as the Dragons responded with 13 unanswered points. Prydie got the scoreboard ticking once again with his second penalty and they followed it up with a superb try on the counter-attack.
Steffan Jones hacked through some loose ball and although it evaded Chavhanga, it fell into the hands of Ross Wardle. The strapping centre took contact and released Lewis Robling, who in turn offloaded for Jones to race clear.
Prydie was again on target and Munster’s woes were compounded when Butler gave referee Claudio Blessano no choice but to brandish yellow after the No 8 cynically infringed at the breakdown.
The Dragons fullback dissected the uprights while Keatley failed to find the posts on 36 minutes. Once again Prydie was on the money and Jones added a neat drop-goal following some late pressure to bring the scores to 19-3 at the interval.
Prydie quickly kicked the scoreboard back into life following the resumption of play as Munster's indiscipline continued. But Munster eventually turned pressure into points with Keatley and Murphy combining to allow O’Mahony to squeeze into the corner for a try on his debut.
They continued to turn the screw and they grabbed a quick fire second try with Strander powering over from a quick-tap at the back of the scrum. The score sparked an ugly mass brawl and Damien Varley was sent to the sin-bin after Keatley converted.
But once again the Dragons roared back. Faletau made a barnstorming break and released an offload. Play broke down but the damage was done and the ball was spread to Wardle, who broke Munster hearts.
Dragons: T Prydie, M Pewtner (A Tuilagi 64), R Wardle, L Robling, T Chavhanga, S Jones (W Evans 64), J Evans, A Coundley (O Evans 59), H Gustafson (S Parry 6-17, 64), N Buck (T Ryan 78), A Coombs (captain), R Sidoli (A Jones 74), D Lydiate, N Cudd, T Faletau.
Scorers: tries - S Jones, R Wardle; conversion - T Prydie; penalties - T Prydie (5); drop goal - S Jones
Munster: D Hurley; R O'Mahony, I Dineen, JJ Hanrahan (D Barnes 51), J Murphy; I Keatley, C Sheridan (D Williams 51); W du Preez (M Horan 69), D Varley, S Archer (J Ryan 37-40, 59); D Foley, B Holland (I Nagle 61); Dave O'Callaghan, N Ronan, P Butler (CJ Stander 61).
Scorers: tries - P Butler, R O'Mahony, CJ Stander, J Murphy; conversions - I Keatley (2)
Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italy)
