Munster 24 Connacht 6:JOHN HAYES brought the curtain down on a glorious career as an understrength Munster side encountered little difficulty in seeing off Connacht at Thomond Park last night.
Hayes was given a standing ovation as he left the field on the hour mark and by then Tony McGahan’s men had wrapped up victory without ever hitting top gear.
The understrength Munster side were always in control although Connacht did little to aid their own cause with basic errors contributing to their 11th successive defeat.
Munster pounced on those mistakes to build an unassailable lead and stay firmly in touch with the top of the table.
While Hayes was bowing out, 21-year-old debutant Seán Scanlon from Limerick showed a great dash of pace any time he was brought into play in a backline where Simon Zebo and Keith Earls also displayed some neat touches in the opening half as they revelled in the dominance of the Munster pack.
It was a fitting way for Hayes to bow out as they got on top in the scrum and Munster were well worth their 18-3 lead.
It could have been much more but Ian Keatley, playing against his former side, missed a brace of penalties in addition to a conversion, while the bounce of the ball deprived him of a 20th-minute try.
At that stage Munster led 3-0, with Keatley converting a 16th-minute penalty in front of the posts either side of pulling penalties right of the target.
Keatley made it 6-0 before Niall O’Connor nailed one for Connacht from 39 metres after an infringement on scrumhalf and former Munster player Frank Murphy.
But then Munster took over. Paddy Butler, another young gun making the most of an opportunity at No 8, intercepted a Niall O’Connor pass just inside halfway to turn the ball over and a couple of phases later saw a great move involving quick hands from Zebo, Earls and Luke O’Dea, with Scanlon sent over for a fine try.
Keatley converted to make it 13-3 and Connacht’s ability to make life difficult for themselves was never more apparent than the second try they conceded.
An overthrow from hooker Ethienne Reynecke on the Munster 10-metre line was collected by Tomás O’Leary and the scrumhalf then chased his own kick to the left corner. Fetu’u Vainikolo had it covered but the Tongan international failed to collect and O’Leary pounced to make it 18-3.
Niall O’Connor had a chance to reduce the deficit before the break but he missed a penalty from 25 metres in front of the posts and then, to his horror, three minutes after the restart he did the same.
It was demoralising stuff but O’Connor managed to regain his confidence to make it 18-6 when he landed an effort from 35 metres. Keatley replied after 50 minutes from 30 metres.
Munster were forced on the back foot for long periods of the second half but they maintained their 15-point advantage.
Hayes was given a standing ovation when he retired on the hour mark but most of the final quarter was played inside the Munster half as Connacht came in search of some consolation. Even though Donncha O’Callaghan was yellow-carded for coming in from the side after 61 minutes, Munster did not concede again.
MUNSTER: S Scanlon; L O'Dea, K Earls, D Barnes, S Zebo; I Keatley, T O'Leary; M Horan, D Fogarty, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll; B Holland, N Ronan, P Butler. Replacements: BJ Botha for Hayes (59 mins), J Coughlan for Butler (63), D Williams for O'Leary (64), D Kilcoyne for Horan (69), I Nagle for O'Driscoll (74), S Henry for Fogarty (74), S Deasy for Keatley (77), T Gleeson for Zebo (77).
CONNACHT: G Duffy; F Vainikolo, E Griffin, D McSharry, T O'Halloran; N O'Connor, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, E Reynecke, R Loughney; G Naoupu, M McCarthy; D Gannon, J O'Connor, J Muldoon. Replacements: K Tonetti for McSharry (h-t), M Kearney for Gannon (53), P O'Donohoe for Murphy (58), R Ah You for Loughney (64), M Jarvis for N O'Connor (64), A Flavin for Reynecke (67), E McKeon for Muldoon (77).
Referee: Dudley Philips(IRFU).
