RUGBY/Dragons 19 Munster 12: Anthony Foley delivered a Heineken European Cup boost for Munster after a lengthy absence but his return was not enough to inspire victory over the Newport-Gwent Dragons last night.
Foley made his first appearance for almost three months following shoulder surgery and emerged unscathed at Rodney Parade. But his team failed their test against a Dragons side proving hard to beat at home in front of a crowd of 5,352.
Lifeimi Mafi looked to have put the European champions in the driving seat with two first-half tries for a 12-6 lead, but after losing the controlling influence of Jeremy Manning to injury, Donnacha Ryan was sent to the sinbin as Munster failed to find an answer to the Dragons' second-half fightback, capped by 14 points from the boot of the Welsh international Ceri Sweeney.
The defeat ended Munster's mini-revival in the Magners League that had lifted them to sixth in the table, though probably of more concern, with the European Cup looming, will have been a calf injury to Trevor Halstead and the illnesses that forced Barry Murphy and Denis Leamy to withdraw from this game.
Declan Kidney continued with his rotation policy ahead of their historic trip to Switzerland to play Bourgoin, but some changes were made out of necessity.
The withdrawals of Murphy and Leamy saw Halstead promoted to the midfield, while Newport-born flanker Chris Wyatt was drafted in to face his former team, John O'Sullivan shifting to openside alongside Foley.
Mick O'Driscoll lined up for the first time since early December, and it was November when Anthony Horgan last appeared for Munster. Neither looked up to the pace.
Prop Marcus Horan returned after tearing a calf muscle against Australia last November and made an immediate impact with a hand in the opening try, in the eighth minute. Horan, Wyatt and Tomás O'Leary made the hard yards to within touching distance of the Newport line before Manning provided the subtlety with a sublime inside pass for Mafi to burst through Paul Emerick's last-ditch tackle.
Manning converted for a seven-point lead, but he was forced out on the half-hour after failing to shake off a shoulder injury sustained 10 minutes earlier.
Within minutes of taking the field, Eoghan Hickey was handed a half-chance to extend Munster's lead with a long-range penalty that shaved the left post.
Munster then lost hooker Andy Kyriacou to the sinbin for persistently infringing, and Sweeney dispatched the penalty with ease.
But Munster were not content to hold out for the 10 minutes to half-time; Mafi burst through for a second before the break.
Foley was heavily involved, twice throwing himself into the Dragons' defence, which was finally wrongfooted as Hickey's pass skipped off the ground to Mafi, who used his step to exploit the dog-leg and open a 12-6 half-time lead.
The Dragons, however, were undefeated in their last five games at Rodney Parade, and they rallied to score a controversial try just a minute after Paul O'Connell entered the fray.
Foley felt he had been obstructed as Jamie Ringer crashed over and the game swung in the Dragons' favour.
Halstead limped off on 59 minutes, O'Connell spilled possession on the try line, Hickey missed a straightforward penalty and Ryan was sent to the sinbin for the final 10 minutes, handing Sweeney the chance to seal the game for Newport, which he duly did with ease.
NEWPORT-GWENT DRAGONS: K Morgan (capt); G Wyatt, P Emerick, A Smith, A Brew; C Sweeney, G Cooper (A Walker, 64); A Black (D Maddocks, 80), B Daly (K Crawford, 15), L Harrison; I Gough (A Hall, 73), P Sidoli; C Charvis, M Owen (N Fitisemanu, 64), J Ringer. Scorers: Try - J Ringer. Con - C Sweeney. Pens - C Sweeney (3). Drop-goal - C Sweeney.
MUNSTER: C Cullen; A Horgan, L Mafi, T Halstead (M Lawlor, 59), I Dowling; J Manning (E Hickey, 30), T O'Leary (B O'Meara, 68); M Horan (F Pucciariello 57), A Kyriacou, T Buckley (E McGovern, 62); D Ryan, M O'Driscoll; C Wyatt (F Pucciariello, 40-47, J Coughlan, 58), A Foley, J O'Sullivan (P O'Connell, 47). Scorers: Tries - L Mafi (2). Con - J Manning.
Referee: A MacPherson (Scotland).
