Rugby:Scarlets played much of the better rugby at Thomond Park but Munster were largely more clinical in taking their chances to forge a fourth consecutive victory, 19-13, in the Heineken Cup. The Welsh franchise will once again rue fragility with the placed ball, some inaccuracy in their hosts 22 and two yellow cards.
In fairness to the Welsh side they received the rough end of some refereeing decisions that were what politely be called contentious. Munster played in fits and starts, grateful to the boot of Ronan O’Gara and a try from James Coughlan; well worked from a close-in lineout.
Once again it was the pack that shined but the outstanding player on display was Munster scrumhalf Conor Murray, who had a great game, chivvying his forwards, defending powerfully and also making some telling breaks.
Munster eased into the lead when Scarlet’s flanker Jonathan Edwards was penalised for not releasing Keith Earls in the tackle, Ronan O’Gara posting the penalty. Gradually though the Welsh visitors began to get a foothold in the match and were enjoying some significant territorial gain by sending big centre Jonathan Davies down O’Gara’s outhalf channel.
On two occasions the Welsh international cut a beautiful inside line and it took some excellent scrambling from the home side to avoid conceding a try. Scarlets’ outhalf Stephen Jones kicked a penalty on 12 minutes after Munster were penalised at a scrum.
O’Gara was being relentlessly targeted by the Scarlets as they sent runners of various sizes down his channel. The Welsh side though, while enjoying possession and territory were a little too lateral in their back play and periodically handling errors let them down.
Munster in contrast were more direct, picking and driving on the fringes, something they did so successfully to good effect during last weekend’s victory at Parc y Scarlets. Unfortunately for the Irish province they didn’t have enough continuity during that opening 40 minutes. The intensity wasn’t quite there as the Scarlets displayed greater desire and application.
The visitors will reflect on a lack of composure and those small mistakes that allowed Munster to relieve the pressure, two or three times when they were seriously stretched defensively. Although second best for most of the half the Irish province demonstrated typical grit and resilience and took the lead six minutes before the interval when the Scarlets transgressed at a scrum.
O’Gara posted from 15 metres but unusually for the home side they afforded the visitors a chance to equalise within 90 seconds when Damien Varley was adjudged not to have released in the tackle. Stephen Jones though could not convert the opportunity.
Munster continued to grind and then just before the interval produced a cutting edge out wide. Simon Zebo got to within millimetres of the Scarlets’ line before being tackled but the Cork Constitution wing was penalised for a double movement in trying to stretch over the try line. The decision was correct but the home side went in at the break with a narrow advantage.
O’Gara had a chance to increase the home side’s lead just after the restart but hit a post. It was a short lived respite though for the visitors – they lost Stephen Jones at half-time with a neck injury – as another transgression allowed the Munster outhalf to atone, posting a third successful kick from four attempts.
Jones’ departure meant that the kicking duties were handed to Rhys Priestland, who had struggled with the placed ball at Parc y Scarlets and on 48 minutes showed that his form hadn’t improved when he missed horribly from 22 metres.
Munster broke out of defence through the excellent Murray and the sweeping move took them to within a couple of metres of the Scarlets’ line where Johne Murphy was grounded. Welsh flanker Edwards came in from the side to stop the momentum and duly received a yellow card.
The home side elected to kick the penalty to the corner. Paul O’Connell took the ball down and in a cleverly worked variation the ball was smuggled to James Coughlan who forced his way over as his cohorts splintered the visiting pack. O’Gara’s touchline conversion merely reiterated the importance of Priestland’s penalty miss just three minutes earlier.
The Munster outhalf tagged on another penalty, a small consolation after Lifeimi Mafi had butchered a four-on-one overlap when a try seemed inevitable. Scarlet’s demonstrated their mettle in refusing to buckle and should have had a try from flanker Edwards but referee Dave Pearson didn’t give it. From the ensuing scrum though replacement hooker Ken Owens forced his way over following a series of rucks and Priestland kicked the conversion to make it 19-13.
The visitors had reclaimed the momentum and they continued to press but errors of concentration and a lack of accuracy undermined their efforts going into the last 10 minutes of the game. Munster were hanging on, second best for large tranches of this game, and also getting the benefit of two or three refereeing decisions.
They held on, demonstrating traditional grit, but the Scarlets will be haunted by thoughts that they could have won this match.
Scoring sequence
5 mins: O’Gara penalty, 3-0; 12: S Jones penalty, 3-3; 34: O’Gara penalty, 6-3. Half-time: 6-3. 43: O’Gara penalty, 9-3; 51: Coughlan try, O’Gara conversion, 16-3; 55: Priestland penalty, 16-6; 62: O’Gara penalty, 19-6; 65: Owens try, Priestland conversion, 19-13.
MUNSTER:D Hurley; J Murphy, K Earls, L Mafi, S Zebo; R O'Gara, C Murray; W du Preez, D Varley, B Botha, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt), D Leamy, N Ronan, J Coughlan. Replacements: T O'Leary for Murray 62 mins; D Ryan for Leamy 63 mins; M Horan for du Preez 70 mins; T O'Donnell for Coughlan 76 mins.
SCARLETS:R Priestland; L Williams, S Williams, J Davies, S Lamont; S Jones, G Davies; R Jones, M Rees (capt), R Thomas, L Reed, D Welch, R McCusker, J Edwards, B Morgan. Replacements: V Iongi for S Jones (half-time); K Owens for Rees 63 mins; G Maule for Williams 63 mins; T Knoyle for Davies 67 mins; P John for R Jones 67 mins; S Timani for Welch 67 mins; K Murphy for Edwards 70 mins.
Referee:Dave Pearson (England).
Yellow cards:J Edwards (Scarlets) 49 mins; R Thomas (Scarlets) 79 mins.
