Munster 30 Treviso 19
This will not be the first time Munster head into a key game at the business end of the season on the back of a stuttering performance, but the bonus- point win
on Saturday could mean that a loss away to Ulster next time out will not be fatal in their bid to secure a home semi-final.
The clash in Belfast on Saturday week between the two remaining Irish sides left in this season’s Pro12 could be a dress rehearsal for the final there on May 30th, but Anthony Foley’s men were giving little away in Cork at the weekend.
They just about did enough to secure all five points against a Treviso side who managed three tries from limited opportunities, to remain on course for a home semi-final.
All 10 semi-finals since the competition adopted a playoff system to decide the winner in the 2009-2010 season have gone the way of the home side. On only four occasions has the losing semi-finalist been within 10 points, so the value of home advantage is obvious.
Munster looked good in the opening half on Saturday but did not push on from scoring three tries, and their bonus point try 13 minutes from the end came from a penalty try as a dominant scrum got the reward their backs failed to deliver after the restart.
Simon Zebo and CJ Stander both took their try haul for the campaign to eight each as Munster built up a 13-0 lead after 19 minutes, while Tommy O'Donnell crowned his 100th appearance with a try before the break after a neat pop pass from Conor Murray.
“We had them on the rack at 13-0 up and gave away a soft penalty when they were going backwards.
“From that they got another couple of penalties to get two goes at a maul against us and we didn’t manage to hold it out, which is something we needed to fix,” added Foley, after big number eight Mathew Luamanu scored for the Italians.
O'Donnell's try helped Munster lead 20-7 at the break, but Munster were rocked two minutes after the restart when sleepy defending was punished when Andrea Pratichetti raced through to score.
Ian Keatley steadied Munster with a penalty before their superior pack finally yielded the bonus point 13 minutes from the end when they were awarded a penalty try.
“We got everything we could out of the game, five points that puts us into the semi final and the knockout,” added Foley.
“So that is good in one respect, but we did say going into the game that we were going to get a physical contest and we surely got that but we invited a lot of that on ourselves as well.”
Paul O’Connell, mobbed by fans in the stand at the interval, sat out this clash with a shoulder injury but Donnacha Ryan got through his first full competitive game in 13 months without any problems.
“Great to see him back, obviously he has still a few things such as battle hardness, that’s why we left him there for the 80 minutes, and to take over the lineout calling in the latter part of the game, just getting back into that type of thing. It’s great to have a guy like his pedigree back in the fold,” added Foley.
