The midterm break report is a glowing one for Munster. A fifth victory in as many games, this one a hard-fought 17-15 win over Connacht at Thomond Park, has generated hope for even better things to come.
Leinster’s summary is something like “back on track” after an eight-try win over a lively Zebre side, with Ulster falling to their first defeat of the season against a snarling Lions side at Ellis Park.
The broadest metaphorical smiles as the United Rugby Championship (URC) gives way to the Autumn Nations Series were on the faces of Munster flanker Jack O’Donoghue and head coach Clayton McMillan, who has injected confidence.
O’Donoghue’s two tries, along with a breakaway from Diarmuid Kilgallen and conversion from JJ Hanrahan, got the job done for Munster. Byron Ralston, who scored two of Connacht’s three tries, was taken off early in the second half with a knee injury that delayed the match for some minutes as he received medical attention.
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Connacht captain Paul Boyle grabbed his side’s last score deep in injury time at the end of the first half. A rolling maul collapsed over the Munster line, with referee Andrea Piardi unsure whether Boyle had managed to ground the ball.
The TMO subsequently confirmed he had grounded it. The decision was greeted with a cacophony of whistling from the home support as Connacht went into the break 15-12 in front.
Just one try, O’Donoghue’s second on 68 minutes, was scored in the arm wrestle of a second half, where Munster owned territory and possession.
“We were just talking about pounding the rock,” said McMillan of Munster’s second-half dominance. “The risk when you come down at half-time, miss a couple of opportunities, get put under a bit of pressure, is we go out and try to win the game in the first five minutes, which means you sometimes get loose and ill-disciplined. We didn’t want to do that.”
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen will have been pleased with the contribution of his half-dozen newcomers in the 50-26 bonus-point win over Zebre at the Aviva Stadium.
Loosehead Jerry Cahir bagged a try in his first appearance for Leinster, while Josh Kenny and Alex Soroka scored two tries each. Harry Byrne, RG Snyman and Will Connors also touched down.
As well as Cahir, full-back Hugo McLaughlin, Bobby Sheehan, Alex Usanov, Ciaran Mangan and Caspar Gabriel all earned their first Leinster caps.
“It’s been an amazing week, really, coming off the disappointment of the game last Saturday and knowing that you’re going to be missing a crew,” said Cullen. “So, yeah, I was ringing around on Sunday, firstly to Lansdowne and it turned out Bobby (Sheehan) has been in the system before and with Dan as his brother, he’s pretty connected to the team.”
Ulster led 19-17 at half-time in Ellis Park where Robert Baloucoune completed a hat-trick. But the home bench made a difference as Ulster left South Africa beaten but not bowed, with six points from two difficult away matches against the Sharks and Lions.
