Munster 18 -13 Treviso
It was neither convincing or easy on the eye but Anthony Foley will be just pleased to see his Munster side get their season up and running with a victory as they saw off the dogged challenge of a Treviso side who they will also meet in the Champions Cup this season.
A year ago Foley’s maiden voyage in charge came unstuck on the opening night against Edinburgh in Thomond Park but two tries from stand-in captain CJ Stander secured this win in Cork.
The South African, who will be Irish qualified by the time these sides meet in Europe in November, struck for a brace of tries in the third quarter.
The scores were enough for Stander, captaining Munster in a competitive game for the first time, to claim the man of the match award to add to the seven gongs he picked up last year.
But he would gladly swap those eight individual medals for some team silverware, although there wasn’t a lot to suggest they are firing on all cylinders in the early stages of this season.
Yet, they are blooding young talent, Clonmel’s David Johnston adding to his growing promise in the centre while Charleville’s John Madigan didn’t look out of place in the second row.
Shane Monahan, signed on a short-term deal, was hungry throughout and Rory Scannell in the centre is a player who could see a lot of game-time during this campaign.
The return of long-term injury casualties such as Mike Sherry, Robin Copeland, Cathal Sheridan and Cian Bohane gives Foley more options than last season, while Tyler Bleyendaal again looked sharp when introduced.
Add in a rock solid display from Felix Jones, who put his World Cup disappointment aside, and you wonder why Munster did not win more convincingly.
But they were sloppy in a lot of their execution and Treviso, who may have eight away on World Cup duty, were up for the battle with a starting 15 which included nine non-Italian born players.
A try from South African Dean Budd, after a missed tackle from Stander, helped Treviso lead 7-6 at the break, with Ian Keatley landing two of three penalties.
Munster turned the screw after the restart and the pressure paid off with Stander stretching to touch down after 46 minutes and they never really looked back when Keatley and Monahan combined to send Stander through eight minutes later.
Treviso never gave up and Munster never looked like pushing on to get a bonus point. Instead, it was the Italians who deservedly nailed one in the final act when Jayden Hayward landed a penalty.
Scorers:
Munster: Tries: CJ Stander (2); Con: I Keatley; Pens: Keatley (2).
Treviso: Try: D Budd; Con: J Hayward; Pens: Hayward (2)
Munster: F Jones; A Conway, D Johnston, R Scannell, S Monahan; I Keatley, D Williams; J Cronin, M Sherry, BJ Botha; J Madigan, D Foley; D O'Callaghan, J O'Donoghue, CJ Stander.
Replacements: T Bleyendaal for Keatley, 56; R Copeland for Madigan, 56; J Ryan for Cronin, 60; S Archer for Botha, 65; C Bohane for Johnston, 69; S Buckley for O’Donoghue, 69; C Sheridan for Williams, 73.
Treviso: J Hayward; L Nitoglia, T Iannone, H Bacchin, A Pratichetti; S Christie, C Smylie; A De Marchi, R Santamaria, R Harden; D Naude, T Palmer; R Barbieri, D Budd, B Steyn.
Replacements: M Zanusso for De Marchi, 46; A Lucchese for Smylie, 46; F Gerosa for Naude, 46; M Barbini for Barbieri, 56; S Ferrari for Harden, 59; S Ragusi for Bacchin, 59; L Bigo for Budd, 76.
Referee: L Linton (SRU).
