URC: Munster 8 Leinster 13
Here is Nathan Johns’ match report from Thomond Park:
[ Leinster show grit to beat Munster in scrappy URC clash at Thomond ParkOpens in new window ]
That’s all from me for tonight, good night!
Josh van der Flier is player of the match:
“It was a tough game, I thought we defended really well, it took everything against Munster. Big disappointment to lose in Croke Park, but really proud to come up with a performance like that. Breakdown was a massive contest for both sides for the whole game. It was a dig deep kind of game, a bit of Christmas pudding in the bellies fuelled us on!”
80 mins: A great carry by Nankivell, who has given it everything today, and Munster win a penalty, poorly conceded by Lowe. Crowley kicks to touch, one last go then. Time is into the red.
They go short with the lineout and several phases without getting into the 22.
Munster get a gap and they had numbers over on the wing! But Leinster just scramble to block the route. But Munster are pouring forward. But Crowley loses it and Leinster get it and clear it, game over!
Full-time: Munster 8 Leinster 13
78 mins: Munster fumble in the breakdown and Leinster turn it over again. Patterson kicks it out, not gaining much territory and Leinster try to kill the game with a ruck, but it’s a Munster ball again, they get another chance.
76 mins: Munster don’t make any ground from the lineout and Doris makes a big captain’s impact to turn the ball over at a key time.
Beirne is down injured, holding his nose with some tissue, hopefully not out too long with that. Then a great turnover by Nankivell the other way to set up potentially a grandstand finish.
73 mins: Patterson is in for Casey and he does well with his first action, a box kick caught by Daly, Leinster then give away a penalty for offside. Superb kick then by Crowley deep into Leinster’s half.
70 mins: Try for Munster! Dan Kelly gets it. Plenty of territory for Munster in the past 15 minutes, but couldn’t turn it into anything until now. Haley on the wing did well and then they went back the other way, Leinster get too narrow and Ioane gets the timing wrong with the loose pass and Crowley feeds Kelly in space to run in. Crowley misses the conversion, which could be costly.
Munster 8 Leinster 13
67 mins: Munster through several phases grind their way to within a few metres of the line. But Leinster are a blue wall and eventually O’Donoghue knocks it on. Superb defensive performance by Cullen and Nienaber’s men.
63 mins: Lowe slices one straight out of play after the restart. A messy few plays leads to Paddy McCarthy giving away a penalty. Crowley kicks for the lineout, a few phases with slower ball and then Crowley tries something else with a crossfield kick, but Daly knocks it on.
58 mins: Penalty scored by Leinster. Munster penalised for offside, with advantage Leinster have some nice passes, Frawley eventually tries a kick to the far wing but it’s intercepted. They go back for the posts, Byrne’s kicking has been spot on today.
Munster 3 Leinster 13
55 mins: Penalty scored by Munster. Leinster fumble the restart and Paddy McCarthy tries to clear out but gives away the penalty. They opt for the posts, Crowley scores nicely and Munster are finally off the mark.
Munster 3 Leinster 10
53 mins: Penalty scored by Leinster. We finally have a score after more than three quarters of an hour. Leinster had Munster under pressure for a while, they win a penalty and Harry Byrne knocks it over.
Munster 0 Leinster 10
50 mins: Edogbo comes off for Kleyn for Munster, Paddy McCarthy in for Porter for Leinster.
Haley leaves a lot of space in the corner, and Byrne hits a superb kick from a free-kick to put Munster under pressure on their lineout. Leinster almost steal it before Casey clears it.
45 mins: Plenty of early territory for Leinster as Daly knocks a ball forward from a high ball near the sideline. Positive attack by Leinster with a nice, quick pass from Byrne to Ioane. Leinster are turned over again, Ahern. Defences completely on top.
Second half is under way.
Half-time: Munster 0 Leinster 7
A long wait on the scrum and then Jamison Gibson-Park kicks it straight out. From the lineout lovely pass by Nankivell to the wing it seemed, with Munster pouring forward, but the referee says it was forward and off they go to the dressingrooms.
36 mins: Tector is in for Henshaw, who is injured, then Edogbo turns it over on Doris, vital. An intense game but some errors too, a game which could do with a score. Nothing on the scoreboard for more than half an hour.
34 mins: Leinster dominating the scrum and win a penalty from it, showing their power and leaving Michael Alaalatoa with a bloody face.
Deft Frawley kick in behind is got by Haley but nearly dragged out of play inside five metres by Lowe and then Casey has to clear.
28 mins: Lots of big hits by both sides, it’s been bubbling for a while and there’s a mini scrap after Casey went quickly after foul play and got a heavy tackle from Byrne. Penalty to Leinster though for O’Donoghue holding Henshaw on the ground.
24 mins: Quite a dogfight and lots of great defensive plays by both teams, but not much momentum either way with lots of turnovers. Haley plucks a ball out of the air with style, and then lovely interplay by Munster, Nankivell tries to kick in behind but goes out of play. Edogbo’s knee gets strapped up.
17 mins: Brilliant intensity to this one, so many crashing tackles and two top Irish scrumhalves fizzing passes. Leinster win another penalty at the breakdown, great tackle by Frawley and then Joe McCarthy turns it over. Another turn over, Coombes grabs it but then slices a kick out of play. Then Ahern steals the lineout and Munster have it again.
14 mins: Poor mistake by Crowley as he tries to go for the furthest point of the corner with the penalty but kicks it out on the full. Monster tackle on Frawley by Daly, flattens him, and Munster gain about 25 metres. Gibson-Park has to scramble clear.
10 mins: Great atmosphere in Thomond, as Farrell makes a great tackle on Ioane and the All Black ends up giving away a penalty. Crowley to touch and a successful lineout, but Kelleher and Deegan help turn it over for Leinster. Leinster’s scrum was under the squeeze but Gibson-Park clears to almost halfway.
7 mins: Try for Leinster! Leinster turn over a scrum, win a penalty and kick to touch. Solid lineout caught by Doris, then van der Flier spins from the ruck at pace and scores. Byrne converts well.
Munster 0 Leinster 7
5 mins: Munster defence under serious pressure by the bright-starting Leinster. They get to the 5 metre line a few times but Edogbo and Coombes end up turning the ball over and the crowd loves that.
3 mins: Three penalties given away early on by Munster, Abrahams is lucky to get away with a card when intercepting illegally. Harry Byrne kicks into touch.
A late change to the Munster team, so this is how they’ll line up as they get ready to come onto the pitch.
MUNSTER: M Haley; S Daly, T Farrell, A Nankivell, T Abrahams; J Crowley, C Casey; M Milne, L Barron, M Ala’alatoa, E Edogbo, T Ahern, T Beirne (capt), J O’Donoghue, G Coombes. Replacements: D Barron, J Loughman, J Ryan, J Kleyn, F Wycherley, P Patterson, D Kelly, J Hodnett.
LEINSTER: C Frawley; T O’Brien, R Ioane, R Henshaw, J Lowe; H Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, J Ryan, M Deegan, J van der Flier, C Doris (capt). Replacements: J McKee, P McCarthy, T Furlong, D Mangan, S Penny, F Gunne, C Tector, A Osborne.
Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU).
Full-time: Connacht 24 Ulster 29
It’s not enough for Connacht as Murphy sticks on a penalty at the end and it’s an impressive win for the northern province away from home. The other interpro game up next, Munster v Leinster.
An exciting finish in store as Matthew Devine has scored a try, converted, to make it 26-24 with only a few minutes left.
A penalty try for Ulster, while Sean Jansen has a try for Connacht. It’s Connacht 15 Ulster 26, with 56 minutes gone.
Check out what our columnists had to say this week:
Jacob Stockdale is in fine form in Galway, and he gets his second assist, this time to Kok and makes it Connacht 10 Ulster 19 after 51 minutes.
Connacht got a penalty through Sam Gilbert, but Ulster have hit back with two tries from Zac Ward, one converted. Ulster have turned the game on its head in the latter stages of the first half, at half-time it’s Connacht 10 Ulster 12.
Finn Treacy has got Connacht off the mark with a try, 7-0 up at Dexcom Stadium against Ulster. Only score of the game after almost 30 minutes.
Here is the match preview from Johnny Watterson:
“There will be an element of festive hope from both sides at Thomond Park on Saturday evening. High on Leinster’s wish list is that they begin to play in the fluid, phased way they know they can.
“So far this season, it has only been available in lurches and bursts. Following the 24-20 win over Ulster last time out, head coach Leo Cullen acknowledged that his team, having dug themselves out of a hole for the second week in a row, have had to remodel themselves to fit what’s happening on the pitch.”
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the URC match between Munster and Leinster, at Thomond Park. Leinster will be looking for revenge after Munster beat them 31-14 in Croke Park a few months ago. That result shocked Leinster and they haven’t quite hit the heights of previous seasons so far in this one, but there would be no better place to get things going for the season than against their old rivals. Lots of big hitters starting for both teams, kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Before that we will have some updates from Connacht v Ulster, which kicked off at 5.30pm, it’s currently scoreless there at the moment.
MUNSTER: S Daly; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, T Abrahams; J Crowley, C Casey; M Milne, L Barron, M Ala’alatoa, E Edogbo, T Ahern, T Beirne (capt), J O’Donoghue, G Coombes. Replacements: D Barron, J Loughman, J Ryan, J Kleyn, F Wycherley, P Patterson, D Kelly, J Hodnett.
LEINSTER: C Frawley; T O’Brien, R Ioane, R Henshaw, J Lowe; H Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, J Ryan, M Deegan, J van der Flier, C Doris (capt). Replacements: J McKee, P McCarthy, T Furlong, D Mangan, S Penny, F Gunne, C Tector, A Osborne.
Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU).
