Munster 24 Bristol 9:ROB PENNEY claimed his first win as Munster head coach as a powerful second-half display gave Munster victory at Musgrave Park last night.
The match turned on its head three minutes after the restart when Bristol replacement winger David McIlwaine was yellow carded for a crude body check on Luke O’Dea as the Munster wing chased his own kick through.
From the resultant penalty Munster kicked to the corner before loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne crashed over with the help of replacement Dave O’Callaghan.
And just as McIlwinie was about to make his return, Munster struck for a second try from Duncan Williams after Casey Laulala had punched a hole in the Bristol defensive line. And Munster struck late on for a third try from replacement Seán Scanlon – his second try in pre-season.
Adrian Jarvis kicked the visitors into the lead with a penalty after two minutes but Rob Penney’s men were soon level, when Ian Keatley slotted a huge kick from half-way on six minutes.
The new Munster game plan to spread the ball wide at the earliest opportunity got an airing in the opening stages, but on more than one occasion the extra pass was attempted when contact should have been sought.
A Jarvis penalty gave Bristol a 6-3 lead in the 11th minute and just short of the half-hour mark Jarvis landed his third successful kick to give his side a 9-3 lead at half-time – albeit after two poor strikes from Keatley which should have levelled matters at the break.
MUNSTER: D Hurley; D Howlett, C Laulala, J Downey, L ODea; I Keatley, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, D Varley, S Archer; D Foley, B Holland; T ODonnell, S Dougall, P Butler. Replacements: BJ Botha for Archer and Dave OCallaghan for Butler (both h-t); S Henr for Varley and B Hayes for Foley (both 47); W du Preez for Kilcoyne, D Barnes for Downey (both 52 mins), P Stringer for Williams (55 mins), S Deasy for Keatley, B OMahony for Dougall, S Scanlon for ODea, J Murphy for Howlett (all 60 mins); P Donnellan for Holland (66 mins), M Horan for du Preez and D Casey for Henry (both 74 mins).
BRISTOL: J Goodridge; R Edwards, B Rennie, L Eves, G Watkins; A Jarvis, J Grindal; K Traynor, R Johnston, W Thompson; M Sambucetti, G Townson; I Grieve, R Pennycook, M Eadie.
Referee: Dudley Phillips (IRFU).
