URC: Connacht 26 Munster 7
The winds of change have swept through Connacht this season and an injury-hit Munster were blown away by the sheer passion and quality of the home side who deservedly earned a five-point haul.
Although Connacht stay ninth on 49 points, this seventh win in eight matches takes them to within striking distance of the Stormers and Cardiff (both on 50 points), as well as Munster on 51, ahead of their trip to Edinburgh next Friday.
How Connacht are proving a stark contrast to reeling Munster
Staying in the hunt is the least they deserved after treating a near 12,500 capacity crowd at the Dexcom Stadium to a performance that scaled far greater attacking heights than Munster. They carried ferociously into contact, the rejuvenated Sam Illo, Josh Murphy, Sean Jansen and tireless talisman Cian Prendergast leading the charge.
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Josh Ioane took the ball to the line in his own inimitable style, but so too did many others, as their ability to pick out passes at the last second and the variety of options off the ball made Munster’s attack look comparatively much easier to read.
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Bundee Aki had a stormer, so too his young sidekick Harry West, while wingers Shane Jennings and Shayne Bolton seemed to be everywhere. But therein lay the key, for the numbers on Connacht’s backs were often irrelevant.
Munster rallied after the break, Brian Gleeson making a big impact, but the damage had been done by half-time, by which point Connacht had rousingly taken a 19-0 lead.
Connacht won the toss and elected to play into the swirling, capricious wind blowing in from the Bohermore end. Roared on by the 12,500 or so capacity when they emerged from the bowels of the Clan Stand, from where the view across Galway Bay to the Burren mountains under a clear blue sky was spectacular.
The expectant crowd didn’t have to wait long to be brought in to the game by Connacht’s vibrant and positive start, Billy Bohan’s freeing his hands after a half break to release West for a gallop, and then a big carry by Darragh Murray setting the tone for much of what was to follow.
Although Aki fumbled his first carry off a penalty toward the corner, Connacht were soon thundering through the phases, albeit Illo and Jansen were both held up over the line.
A jackal penalty by former Connacht winger Andrew Smyth was Munster’s only relief from the siege, and there was no surprise when the constant home pressure yielded a 12th-minute breakthrough. After Munster were worked through multiple high-tempo phases, Ben Murphy availed of Michael Ala’alatoa bumping into Fineen Wycherley to snipe through an inviting gap and score by the posts.
There followed what seemed a harsh yellow card, then upgraded to a 20-minute red against Munster hooker Diarmuid Barron for an illegal clear-out on his opposite number Dylan Tierney-Martin when he had actually been part of a two-man tackle.
In any case, Connacht made their advantage tell after pinching a Munster lineout to the front by stand-in thrower John Hodnett. Prendergast would pinch another of that ilk by Jeremy Loughman before Lee Barron was brought on as a temporary replacement for Hodnett.
Again Connacht kept Munster’s defence on the back foot and forced tackles before quick hands on the blindside by Prendergast and Sam Gilbert enabled Bolton to score his first try of an injury-disrupted season.
Munster eventually mounted a multiphase attack some 25 minutes into the contest to stem the one-way traffic, but it was narrow and largely predictable until Smyth wafted at Craig Casey’s intended pass for JJ Hanrahan.
A brilliant Connacht attack from a scrum inside their 22, Aki linking with West skilfully and featuring a rumble on the edgy by Prendergast, came to nothing. But Casey didn’t help Munster’s cause by tapping a penalty before kicking out on the full.
When Ala’alatoa came in from the side, Connacht kicked to the corner and Eoin de Buitléar hit Prendergast. Despite not challenging, the Munster pack was splintered by the drive for Shamus Hurley-Langton to score, Gilbert’s conversion making it 19-0 at the break.
The half ended with a scuffle and the Munster players remaining on the pitch to form a huddle before facing the wrath of Clayton McMillan. The away side resumed with a penalty on halfway against Gilbert for instigating the scuffle.
Munster showing much more intent, it looked as if Alex Kendellen had finished well from close-range but on review, with Peter Martin and his officials again squinting into the low sun behind the big screen at the Bohermore End, they detected a slight knock-on in the grounding thanks to a timely intervention by Josh Murphy.
Instead, Aki trucked up the ensuing scrum ball under his own posts, luring in both Munster centres, ducking as if into contact before popping a no-look pass for West to break clear, the young Ballina centre cleverly waiting for support beyond halfway.
But Munster were much more effective at filling the pitch and contesting the breakdown to frustrate Connacht, whose defence also held firm. That was until Munster forced a turnover at a defensive Connacht lineout, Fineen Wycherley seeming to tackle Murray in the air. They pounded the Connacht line until Jack O’Donoghue did well to keep the ball alive for Casey to snipe over.
Although that brought a potentially vital bonus point into view for Munster, it was probably the best outcome for Connacht as it ended the siege as they flirted with a yellow card.
Sure enough, Bolton came in off his wing to chop tackle Smyth and when loose ball followed off the ruck, Prendergast dived on to it bravely. With the departing Matthew Devine and retiring Jack Carty pulling the strings cleverly until their go-to man Jansen burrowed over with a vital latch from Prendergast.
With that, the Connacht crowd belted out The Fields of Athenry and then counted down the clock to end a memorable night out west as, entirely fittingly, Carty kicked the ball dead.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 13 mins: B Murphy try, Gilbert con 7-0; 21: Bolton try 12-0; 34: Hurley-Langton try, Gilbert con 19-0; Half-time 19-0; 68: Casey try, Hanrahan con 19-7; 72: Jansen try, Gilbert con 26-7
CONNACHT: S Gilbert; S Jennings, H West, B Aki, S Bolton; J Ioane, B Murphy; B Bohan, D Tierney-Martin, S Illo; D Murray, J Murphy; C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton, S Jansen.
Replacements: E de Buitléar for Tierney-Martin (22 mins), P Dooley for Bohan, F Bealham for Illo (both 48), J Joyce for J Murphy, S Naughton for West (both 56), P Boyle for Hurley-Langton (62), M Devine for B Murphy, J Carty for Ioane (both 69).
MUNSTER: M Haley; T Abrahams, A Nankivell, D Kelly, A Smith; JJ Hanrahan, C Casey; J Loughman, D Barron, M Ala’alatoa; E Edogbo, F Wycherley; T Ahern, J Hodnett, G Coombes.
Replacements: L Barron for Hodnett (26-37 mins), A Kendellen for Barron (37), J O’Donoghue for Edogbo (h-t), B Gleeson for Coombes (48), J Wycherley for Loughman (54), S O’Brien for Abrahams (55), C Bartley for Ala’alatoa (70), B O’Donovan for Casey (73).
Red card: Barron (17 mins).
Referee: P Martin (Ire).
