Leinster edge Munster in feisty Thomond Park battle

Murray Kinsella Reports from Thomond Park

Munster 8

Leinster 13

MUNSTER HAD BARELY taken their seats at the table when Leinster were pulling the first of the Christmas crackers.

And though the ensuing meal involved lots of tit-for-tat bickering, the visitors enjoyed it more and will head for home with the satisfaction of getting one over on their in-laws.

Josh van der Flier’s sixth-minute try and a couple of Harry Byrne penalties were enough for Leinster to get the job done at Thomond Park and though Dan Kelly’s 70th-minute score for Munster suggested a late comeback might be on the cards, Leinster left with the spoils.

Truth be told, this wasn’t a classic of the genre as both teams struggled to get any flow into their performances. It was confrontational, edgy stuff throughout as the sold-out crowd of 26,006 waited for expansive rugby to break out amidst the battling. Defence dominated.

Leinster had the better of more of those battles, with their scrum helping them into position for the van der Flier try, as well as delivering a few other important pressure-building and pressure-relieving moments.

The second row play was perhaps the best aspect of this game, with Joe McCarthy and James Ryan excelling in the Leinster pack, while Edwin Edogbo delivered 50 minutes of quality in the Munster engine room.

Both lineouts were slick, no doubt a pleasing sight for Ireland forwards Paul O’Connell as the Six Nations looms, while the collisions in close quarters were ferocious throughout. Leinster’s defence had to come up with some strong sets in the second half, including the thrilling last passage of the game.

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This wasn’t quite revenge for what happened at Croke Park in October, but Leo Cullen and co. will be pleased at getting out of Limerick with a win that means they keep climbing the URC table.

They will certainly be frustrated not to have scored a try in the second half, but those two penalties from out-half Byrne were enough to seal the deal. 

That followed a first half that wasn’t short of physicality or work rate but lacked the accuracy required from both teams, the away side leading 7-0 at the break.

Leinster had started in snappy fashion with that sixth-minute try from player of the match van der Flier, a score that suggested they were in the mood for blood, but Munster made their lives difficult as Beirne and Edogbo led the home resistance.

Yet McMillan’s men weren’t able to find a scoreboard response, getting turned over on one five-metre maul attempt and fluffing their lines a few other times.

That struggle to chisel out clear chances was ultimately the story of the first half, although even when they did break out down the right just before half time, they were rather harshly called back for a forward pass. 

That left Munster empty-handed after the first half and though they finally cracked the Leinster defence with 10 minutes of the second left through Kelly, they couldn’t muster enough to make it two from two against their rivals this season.

Leinster leave with four match points, Munster are left with one, and though this contest is unlikely to live long in the memory, it was ferociously fought out.

Munster scorers: 

Tries: Dan Kelly

Conversions: Jack Crowley [0 from 1]

Penalties: Jack Crowley [1 from 1]

Leinster scorers:

Tries: Josh van der Flier 

Conversions: Harry Byrne [1 from 1]

Penalties: Harry Byrne [2 from 2]

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Shane Daly, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams (Dan Kelly ’57); Jack Crowley, Craig Casey (Paddy Patterson ’72); Michael Milne (Jeremy Loughman ’55), Lee Barron (Diarmuid Barron ’55), Michael Ala’alatoa (John Ryan ’55); Edwin Edogbo (Jean Kleyn ’50), Tom Ahern (Fineen Wycherley ’67); Tadhg Beirne (captain) (Jack O’Donoghue ’75), Jack O’Donoghue (John Hodnett ’67), Gavin Coombes.

LEINSTER: Ciarán Frawley; Tommy O’Brien (Andrew Osborne ’78), Rieko Ioane, Robbie Henshaw (Charlie Tector ’35), James Lowe; Harry Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park (Fintan Gunne ’75); Andrew Porter (Paddy McCarthy ’50), Rónan Kelleher (John McKee ’68), Thomas Clarkson (Tadhg Furlong ’49); Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier (Scott Penny ’73), Caelan Doris (captain).

Replacement not used: Diarmuid Mangan

Referee: Peter Martin [IRFU].