Leinster 26; Munster 12
It was an unusual fixture where the venue rather than the game itself became the story as Croke Park housed almost 82,000 fans to witness a run-of-the-mill URC league game between Leinster and great interpro rivals Munster.
A rugby game at Croke Park is a once in a lifetime occasion for players and obviously it has an immense attraction for supporters too who turned up in All-Ireland hurling or football final numbers to cheer their colors on in a round four league clash.
Normally Leinster and Munster provide action-packed fare but this game was over after 15 minutes by which time Leinster had run in three converted tries to lead by 21-0.
Thereafter they didn’t exactly take their foot off the pedal but went into a prolonged defensive practice where they allowed Munster to come at them and the southern province managed just two touchdowns for the remainder of the game.
Even when Munster scored a first half try from the game Sean O’Brien to give neutrals hope of a tighter second half, up popped the giant South African RG Snyman to dot down to make it 26-5 and claim a bonus point.
Snyman had four years in Munster colors where he was bedeviled by injury but he never had a central role like the way he ruled the roost in this game before being substituted early in the second half to sounds of resounding boos from the traveling section around the famed stadium.
Munster's Jeremy Loughman, left, and Andrew Porter of Leinster after the game. [Inpho/Tom Maher]
James Lowe, Caelan Doris and Hugo Keenan were the first half try scorers on a night when Leinster looked a different class to the Munster squad. Lowe, Doris and Keenan all crossed the line inside the opening quarter of an hour, as Leinster exploded into the game.
To be fair, Munster tried their best to make ground across the three-quarter line but were met with the blues famed rush defense with 6’ 4” Jamie Osborne standing out in this defensive mode.
Ciarán Frawley was given an opportunity to show his wares at No 10 and was cool and calm and looked the part when up against the current Ireland incumbent, Jack Crowley, who tried hard but had little room to show his attacking flair.
O’Brien got Munster’s try on 32 minutes and Mike Haley crossed the line with 15 to play after a brilliant kick ahead by back row forward Gavin Coombes.
After the game, Leinster Head Coach Leo Cullen was happy with the result but bemoaned not scoring at all in the second half.
“Overall, we're really pleased,” he said. "It’s a league game. What do you want out of a league game? Get five points. Deny the opposition getting anything in the game and that’s what we’ve managed to do so that’s a success on that front."
He went on: “It's so special, isn't it? Even just the drive into the stadium across town, it's magic. We feel so lucky, from the player's point of view, to be able to perform here. A lot of Munster fans in the ground and they made a lot of noise over the course of the warm-up and it just adds to the occasion.”
Munster coach Graham Rowntree was unhappy with how his team were blown away in the first quarter of an hour but otherwise was pleased with how the players responded.
“It certainly wasn't our best 20 minutes that I've seen against Leinster. It was chaos. A double HIA, we didn't have a hooker on the pitch at one point, trying to get 15 players on the field. Jeremy Loughman got a blood injury as well. They sensed we were a bit disjointed and got the ball to the edge of the field and took their opportunities,” he explained.
“As a headline to the game, from us, it wasn't a lack of effort. We just have to get better at taking opportunities. They had minimal opportunities, but took them all. They're a dangerous team like that. I thought we had opportunities. We showed we could attack, we stuck to our plan - we had a good plan. We had our chances late on in the game,” he added.
In the other match Ulster just came through against Connacht on a scoreline of 32-27.
Leinster: H Keenan; L Turner, G Ringrose, J Osborne, J Lowe; C Frawley, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, L Barron, T Furlong; RG Snyman, J Ryan; J Conan, J van der Flier, C Doris (capt) Replacements: G McCarthy (for Barron, 40), C Healy (for Furlong, 64), T Clarkson (for Baird, 52), R Baird (for RG Snyman, 50), M Deegan (for Conan, 19), L McGrath (for Gibson-Park, 69), R Byrne (for Turner, 69), H Byrne (for Lowe, 76’).
Munster: M Haley; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, S O'Brien; J Crowley, C Casey; J Loughman, N Scannell, S Archer; J Kleyn, T Beirne (capt); J O'Donoghue, J Hodnett, G Coombes. Replacements: D Barron (for Scannell, 8-18 [HIA]), K Ryan (for J Ryan, 74), J Ryan (for Loughman, 12-23 [blood], and 50’), T Ahern (for Kleyn, 50), R Quinn (for Coombes, 54, Coombes for Hodnett [HIA], 58-69), C Murray (for Casey, 59), T Butler (for Farrell, 74), S McCarthy (for O’Brien, 61).
Ref: C Busby (IRFU).
