Anthony Foley’s Munster reign begins in defeat

Munster 13 Edinburgh 14

The Anthony Foley era got off to a disappointing start at a poorly attended Thomond Park as they struggled to recover from a poor start on Friday night.

They had a chance to win it at the death but with the final kick of the game Ian Keatley was off target from 42 metres .

A crowd well short of the official ticket sales of 13,428 saw Edinburgh lead from early and condemn Munster to their first ever home defeat on the opening weekend of a season.

Edinburgh had a man in the bin either side of half-time but a brace of tries from CJ Stander in each half was not enough to save the day for Munster.

Munster produced an error-strewn opening quarter and could have few complaints when they slipped 6-0 behind after just eight minutes as Edinburgh, backed by the breeze, punished them.

Tom Heathcote, a late replacement for outhalf Greig Tonks, slotted both kicks from 35 metres on either side on his debut after moving from Bath in an effort to add to his three Scottish caps.

Munster showed ambition when going to the right corner with a penalty after 20 minutes but did not back it up and the ball was turned over close to the line.

Dougie Fife was whistled back for a forward pass with a clear run to the line and Heathcote missed a penalty from the right as Munster struggled to stay in the game, with prop John Ryan denying lock Fraser McKenzie with an ankle tap.

Simon Zebo did most to get Munster on the front foot but it was a clumsy tackle on him by flanker Tomas Leonardi which gave them a foothold in the game, with the Aregentine yellow-carded after a viewing by the TMO Jude Quinn in the 32nd minute.

Three minutes later Munster went to the left corner with another penalty and this time made it count when Stander, after the initial two surges were halted, surged through the tackles of Sam Beard and Andries Strauss to touch down for his 10th Munster try.

Keatley pulled the conversion and Munster trailed 9-5 at the break when Heathcote landed another penalty at the other end after Tim Visser’s try was ruled out for a blatant forward pass by Beard.

A break by Zebo just after the restart ended with Edinburgh flanker Hamish Watson being yellow-carded for killing the ball close to his own line, but again Munster failed to make the penalty opportunity count.

And then they fell 14-5 behind after 48 minutes when Edinburgh countered and Beard threaded the ball through for Cuthbert to score in the right corner and leave Munster, struggling in the scrum, with a mountain to climb.

They began making that ascent on the hour mark when they held possession inside the Edinburgh 22 and spread the defence before Stander again did superbly to worm his way over from a few metres.

However, Keatley missed the conversion from the left to leave it 14-10 going into the final quarter.

Edinburgh again countered but this time Munster dealt with the challenge and hit back for Zebo to chip and chase down the left and force Cuthbert into touch. From that they forced another penalty and Keatley made it 14-13 after 69 minutes, but that was as near as they got to saving the game.

Scorers

Munster: Tries: C J Stander (2). Pen: I Keatley

Edinburgh: Try: J Cuthbert. Pens: T Heathcote (3)

Munster: R O'Mahony; A Conway, J Murphy, A Smith, S Zebo; I Keatley, D Williams; J Ryan, K O'Byrne, BJ Botha; D O'Callaghan, B Holland; CJ Stander, S Dougall, S Buckley.

Replacements: I Dineen for O'Mahony (half-time), D Casey for O'Byrne (46 mins), T O'Donnell for Dougall (53 mins), D Foley for O'Callaghan (53 mins), C Sheridan for Williams (73 mins), S Archer for Botha (76 mins).

Edinburgh: J Cuthbert; D Fife, S Beard, A Strauss, T Visser; T Heathcote, S Kennedy; A Dickinson, R Ford, J Andress; F McKenzie, O Atkins; T Leonardi, H Watson, Cornell Du Preez.

Replacements: W Nel for Andress (47 mins), P Burleigh for Strauss (52 mins), J Hilterbrand for Ford (61 mins), M Coman for Leonardi (60 mins) N McLennan for Cuthbert (70 mins), S Hidalgo-Clyne for Kennedy (70 mins), R Sutherland for Visser (76 mins).

Referee: L Hodges (WRU).