URC: Munster 23 Cardiff 20
Winning boasts an appeal and charm no matter how scruffy. The blemishes can be scrutinised in Munster’s post-game review but in the immediate aftermath there’s room to pause briefly and celebrate the victory as a standalone moment.
Munster head coach Clayton McMillan, who enjoyed a first home URC game in his new role at Limerick rugby’s citadel, summed it up neatly when he ventured: “I know it’s a cliche but sometimes it’s better to win ugly than lose pretty.
“The pleasing thing was in that last 10 or 15 minutes when the game was really in the balance, possession, territory and the momentum of the game swung our way which was a big improvement on last week when we sort of lost our way. I know they scored at the end but that was a real positive to take out of the game.” As a postscript it’s fair and accurate.
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He continued: “I honestly thought we probably just lacked the edge that we had about us last week. We lost the collisions, gave away penalties, gave up a couple of tries and that fed their game, and they were good at it. They were strong up front, they carried with a bit of venom and were particularly good at the breakdown, and they turned over the pill a number of times.
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“So, it was a dogfight, and we anticipated it was going to be a tough game, but I think we’ll have to have a good look at ourselves and find out ways of being better.”
Munster dug out this victory, facilitated by the impact from the bench which players like Jack O’Donoghue, Brian Gleeson, Diarmuid Barron and the quicksilver flow that Paddy Patterson brought, to build on the work that had gone before, especially in the pack, post interval.
And then, as the match meandered to a conclusion with the result up for grabs, Jack Crowley stood tall. His drop goal ultimately separated the sides on the scoreboard but there were other slivers of quality, not least his chip, regather and crosskick that almost led to a try for Dan Kelly, chalked off following a discussion between the television match official Chris Allison and referee Griffin Colby.
In some respects, Crowley’s contribution – he was singled out officially as the game’s premier performer – offered a representation of Munster’s display, very good in parts but not immune to a mistake here and there. A great thing about the Innishannon native is that he never backed down from or backed off trying to manage the game positively on behalf of his team-mates.
McMillan said of Crowley’s display: “He made an instant impression last week, obviously, came on and had some really nice touches. Today was his first start for a little while and I just think, you know, when you’re running the ship, as experienced as he is, it just takes a little time to get into the rhythm and flow of a game.
“He certainly had some special moments, courageous enough or smart enough, whichever way you want to look at it, to sit back in the pocket and nail that drop goal under a lot of pressure, which pushed it out to eight points; in the game was a big moment. He had a couple of nice line breaks. But like everyone else, we’ve all got things to work on in the game, and he’d be no different.”
Cardiff head coach Corne van Zyl will have had mixed emotions on the return journey across the Irish Sea. He watched his team score four tries including a hat-trick for left wing Tom Bowen, play some bright attacking rugby on the back of a hard-working and hard-carrying pack but his team received the rough edge in some of the officiating.
Outhalf Callum Sheedy missed four conversions and a penalty off the tee, albeit that he did provide a couple of beautifully weighted crosskicks for two of the tries. The teams were level 5-5 at half-time, Munster’s try, a beauty off the back of a sweeping attack from one touchline to the other that culminated in Ruadhán Quinn diving over in the corner.
McMillan addressed the breakdown and lineout maul issues at half-time. “I think you look vulnerable anywhere on the field if you don’t win those first-up collisions. They carried and accelerated into contact, were really aggressive in their cleans and we sat on our heels and allowed them to play on top of us.
“That’s not the team we want to be so we might have shown a few holes in the midfield and out wider but that’s a consequence of us needing to be better in other spaces. And in the mauls, I think we made a couple of adjustments at half-time and Codders [forwards coach Alex Codling] gave it to the lads in small numbers, and we got our reward in the second half.”
Tries from Gavin Coombes and Diarmuid Barron, muscular efforts from close range, gave the home side impetus on the scoreboard and came as a response to a couple from Cardiff wing Bowen.
Crowley kicked a penalty and a drop goal, the latter strike to effectively future-proof the victory at 23-15 against anything untoward. It arrived in the shape of Bowen’s hat-trick, injury-time try; too little, too late in terms of the outcome.
Scoring sequence – 14 mins: Adams try, 0-5; 28: Quinn try, 5-5. Half-time: 5-5. 43: Bowen try, 5-10; 52: Coombes try, Crowley con, 12-10; 56: Bowen try, 12-15; 60: Barron try, 17-15; 65: Crowley pen, 20-15; 75: Crowley drop goal, 23-15; 80: Bowen try, 23-20.
MUNSTER: Ben O’Connor; Shane Daly, Dan Kelly, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Ethan Coughlan; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell (capt), Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Thomas Ahern, Ruadhan Quinn, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Sean O’Brien for Daly (9 mins); Diarmuid Barron for Scannell (24-38 and h-t); Paddy Patterson for Coughlan (53); Jack O’Donoghue for Quinn (54); Josh Wycherley for Loughman, Brian Gleeson for F Wycherley (both 57); Ronan Foxe for Jager (70); Tony Butler for Crowley (76).
Yellow card: Coombes (38 mins).
CARDIFF: Jacob Beetham; Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Rory Jennings, Tom Bowen; Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder; Danny Southworth, Liam Belcher (capt), Javan Sebastian; Josh McNally, Teddy Williams; Alex Mann, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence.
Replacements: Daf Hughes for Belcher (44 mins); Rhys Barratt for Southworth (54); Ben Donnell for Mann, Taine Basham for Thomas (both 57); Sam Wainwright for Sebastian, Aled Davies for Mulder (both 65); Ioan Lloyd for Sheedy (66); Steff Emanuel for Millard (72).
Yellow card: McNally (9 mins).
Referee: Griffin Colby (South Africa).
