United Rugby Championship: Leinster 26 Munster 12
On a crisp autumnal evening the iconic Croke Park looked a picture of mostly blue and red as darkness descended to give the latest instalment in this auld rivalry a true sense of occasion.
Munster recovered well from an early triple whammy to retreat from Dublin with some pride, albeit they looked a bit beaten up ahead of their impending trip to South Africa, with a battery of HIAs, bumps and bruised bodies, and all manner of disruption to their frontrow. Yet the increasing swathe of empty seats before the end was final verification that there was only ever going to be one winner.
Although kept scoreless after the break for the second week running, Leinster had by then secured a bonus point, putting them on the maximum 20 points, nine clear of their rivals in red.
Leinster flew out of the blocks as their well-honed blitz defence initially ensnared Munster and they were their ruthlessly efficient selves with their first three incursions into the opposition.
The many late arriving fans may have missed the first one or two tries, and three converted tries pretty much ended the contest by the 16th minute, all the more so when a needlessly trigger-happy call by Chris Busby questionably ruled out a Munster try which the visitors and the game needed.
Despite a well-earned Munster try from Seán O’Brien five minutes from the break, Leinster and RG Snyman had the temerity to secure the bonus point with the last play of the half, opting for a tap penalty rather than a certain three points. Thereafter, they seemed to treat the game as a defensive exercise, revelling in being tested by scrambling furiously.
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As expected, Caelan Doris was immense, and Josh van der Flier was everywhere, the live wire Jamison Gibson-Park remains a step ahead of everyone and at the peak of his powers, and their supremacy ensured they won nearly all the head-to-heads, with Ciaran Frawley having an assured game in all he did.
He also linked supremely with Jamie Osborne in a glimpse of Leinster’s long and short-term health. Osborne’s deft hands and physicality in his carries and tackles were an abiding feature of the game.
Whether it was the presence of Snyman or not, Leinster also did serious damage to Munster’s lineout.
Leinster exploded out of the traps and off the line defensively, and although Munster outflanked the blitz early on, when they attempted to outmanoeuvre it again Doris shot up to engulf Stephen Archer with the ball, winning a penalty to the corner for holding on.
There was an inevitability about what followed as Leinster softened up Munster’s defence with carries by Garry Ringrose, James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong and, after a neat interchange with Osborne, Frawley was held up before Gibson-Park floated one of his trademark long passes for James Lowe to touch down.
Frawley even landed the touchline conversion and when Munster went up the line Ryan picked off Diarmid Barron’s first throw as Niall Scannell underwent a HIA. After another Munster lineout malfunctioned the quick-witted Gibson-Park gave Liam Turner a run up the right touchline, Osborne carried hard before Doris twisted on to his back and scored. The try was given, although a clear knock-on by Snyman when attempting an offload in traffic was missed.
Hugo Keenan initiated and finished the killer third try, first beating Gavin Coombes when countering and linking with Frawley. Their attack now flowing, good hands by Gibson-Park, Doris and Ringrose released Lowe for a kick-and-chase.
Crowley gathered but was pinged for holding on and after going to the corner a couple of times, Leinster struck again. From another Ryan take, Jack Conan carried hard, although his game would end prematurely, and Osborne’s deft pass out the back gave Frawley the chance to beat O’Brien’s rush and afford Keenan a clear run to the line.
The masses in blue were in raptures while Munster’s supporters were palpably stunned.
Munster responded with their best spell, stretching and testing Leinster’s scramble defence, notably when Tom Farrell punched a hole and was supported up the middle by Craig Casey and Nankivell. But they were denied a route back when Busby hastily deemed that a long pass by Nankivell to Calvin Nash was forward as the winger was narrowing the angle. Tadhg Beirne, who had a tetchy discourse with the referee all game, argued not unreasonably that he could have waited until after the grounding. The pass looked flat.
Munster hammered at the Leinster defence through another eight phases and then won a second scrum penalty to the corner. Ryan had stolen a second throw close to the line but this time Scannell hit Jean Kleyn at the tail. Coombes took the tap down and arced infield, drawing defenders and puling a no-look pass pack for O’Brien to ghost in off his wing behind the decoy run of Beirne to score.
The wayward conversion by Crowley, whose attempted penalties to the corner had not been close enough to the try-line, was a particularly bad miss in the context of the match.
In any event, Leinster had the final say from a sequence of penalties. There was something dismissive about opting for a couple of tap penalties under the posts as the clock neared 40. After carries by Lee Barron, Doris and Osborne, Snyman ran at Archer and Casey. It was an unequal contest and as the blue flags fluttered he emerged beaming following his first try for his new province.
That took much of the sting out of the match. To Munster’s credit they went toe to toe with Leinster, putting together one defensive set before Snyman was replaced to loud cheers and boos from supporters on either side of the provincial divide.
But even when Farrell stepped two tackles to make big inroads again and linked with Nankivell, Leinster scrambled and off the recycle Ringrose shot up to prevent Nankivell offloading at the expense of a scrum.
Nonetheless, Munster had some quality off the bench. Conor Murray dummied and stepped between Cian Healy and Andrew Porter to break clear. Keenan made the tackle, but Murray passed off the deck for the supporting Archer and Crowley took the ball to the line for Farrell to offload, whereupon Coombes weighed his grubber perfectly for Mike Haley to score.
Crowley’s conversion made it a two-score game, prompting Doris to insist that newly introduced Ross Byrne go for the posts from around 47 metres, but his kick was fractionally wide and short. By contrast, from a near identical spot, Frawley’s kick had the legs but hit the upright.
The dye had long been cast in blue.
Scoring sequence: 6 mins Lowe try, Frawley con 7-0; 11 mins Doris try, Frawley con 14-0; 15 mins Keenan try, Frawley con 21-0; 35 mins O’Brien try 21-5; 40 (+1) mins Snyman try 26-5; Half-time: 26-5; 66 mins Haley try, Crowley con 26-12.
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan, Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe, Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Lee Barron, Tadhg Furlong, RG Snyman, James Ryan, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (Capt).
Replacements: Max Deegan for Conan (30 mins), Gus McCarthy for Barron (half-time), Ryan Baird for Snyman (50), Thomas Clarkson for Baird (52), Cian Healy for Furlong (65), Luke McGrath for Gibson-Park, Ross Byrne for Turner (both 69), Harry Byrne for Lowe (76).
MUNSTER: Mike Haley, Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Seán O’Brien, Jack Crowley, Craig Casey, Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (Capt), Jack O’Donoghue, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron for Scannell (8-18 mins), John Ryan for Loughman (12 and 52), Kieran Ryan for Barron (16) and for Ryan (75), Tom Ahern for Kleyn (50), Ruadhán Quinn for Coombes (55), Coombes for Hodnett (59-70), Conor Murray for Casey (60), Shay McCarthy for O’Brien (62), Tony Butler for Farrell (75).
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
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