MAGNERS LEAGUE: Munster 38 Dragons 17:TWENTY SEVEN minutes into Munster's clash against the Dragons on Saturday night something unusual happened.
Scottish referee Neil Paterson awarded the home side a penalty in front of the posts after the Welsh region had strayed offside, but instead of taking the kick which would have tied up the scores at 9-9, Munster opted for the scrum.
Sixty seconds later, Doug Howlett had crossed the whitewash for the first of his two tries, and the long-term league leaders were on their way to yet another bonus-point win. Howlett, in fact, claimed most of the plaudits on the night for the skill and awareness he displayed when running in his eighth and ninth tries of the season.
But the significance of a solid scrum set-piece was not lost on the Munster coaching set-up, for whom the set piece has been the bane of their collective existence for much of the last 18 months.
Marcus Horan, Denis Fogarty and Stephen Archer manned the front row for the opening 52 minutes of the game, during which they dictated the terms of most engagements, though not all.
Thereafter Wian du Preez, Damien Varley and Tony Buckley were given their opportunity, and whilst they were slightly less impressive, they nevertheless held firm.
Slowly but surely, the pieces finally seem to be coming together for the oft-maligned Munster scrum.
“It was always going to take time,” said McGahan after the game. “We certainly made a conscious effort ever since we came back from pre-season to put some time into it.
“It’s not going to happen overnight. We’ve had some really good days and we’ve also had some really poor ones which have cost us. But we are starting to see the benefits of all that work coming through. We’re by no means anywhere near where we need to be, but we’re making progress.”
McGahan, it seemed, was reasonably satisfied with Munster’s performance which saw them consolidate their lead at the summit of the Magners League table.
Leading 18-9 at the break, the hosts were momentarily stopped in their tracks when Dragons captain Steve Jones crossed over unmarked for a try just after half-time.
But man-of-the-match Mick O’Driscoll restored Munster’s advantage, piling over from close range after more controlled dominance from the home forwards, orchestrated efficiently by scrumhalf Connor Murray, who enjoyed a superb first senior start.
“Connor has trained with us a lot over the last 18 months and I thought he came out tonight and controlled things around the ruck with his passing, kicked well and defended very strongly,” commented McGahan.
“He can certainly be pleased with his efforts this evening.” From there, Munster were in cruise control for the remainder of the game, and they added two more tries in the final 10 minutes, the first by Johne Murphy followed up quickly by another from veteran Alan Quinlan.
It was the trainees, however, who commanded much of the post-match approval. The 21-year-old outhalf Declan Cusack mostly held his own in what was only his second senior start, whilst Ian Nagle – also 21 – once more produced the goods in the second row.
Archer probably produced the most effective scrummaging performance of his career to date, whilst 20-year-old winger Simon Zebo continues to look the real deal after another sparkling display.
“You need to give these players some games together instead of one in and one out, and Simon has taken his opportunities really well,” said McGahan of the Corkman.
It remains to be seen whether the likes of Murray and Zebo will be preserved when the international contingent comes flooding back in at the end of the month.
It’s a tricky one for McGahan, for whom loyalty remains a key characteristic.
“We’ve had a group of players who have performed to extremely high standards over a long period of time,” he explained. “We’re looking to get that balance right and it’s a difficult thing to do.
“You need to have some loyalty but you also need to reward players who are coming through and looking for opportunities. They can only get those opportunities through playing.”
MUNSTER:J Murphy; D Howlett, L Mafi, P Warwick, S Zebo; D Cusack, C Murray; M Horan, D Fogarty, S Archer; I Nagle, M O'Driscoll (capt); D Ryan, J Coughlan, D Leamy. Replacements: D Varley for Fogarty, W du Preez for Horan (both 52 mins), T Buckley for Archer (54 mins), P Stringer for Murray (59 mins), A Quinlan for Nagle (61 mins), D Barnes for Zebo (66 mins), T O'Donnell for Coughlan (70 mins),
DRAGONS:P Leach; A Hughes, T Riley, A Smith, M Pewtner; J Tovey, W Evans; H Gustafson, S Jones (capt.) (L Burns 55), B Castle; S Morgan, R Sidoli; A Coombs, T Faletau, J Bearman. Replacements: R Gomer-Davies for Smith (21 mins), A Jones for Sidoli (28 mins), J Evans for W Evans, L Evans for Morgan (both 47 mins), L Burns for Jones (55 mins).
Referee:Peter Allen
