Munster moved within eight points of league leaders the Ospreys on Sunday evening, as they fended off a determined Glasgow side 25-19 at Thomond Park.
Munster moved within eight points of league leaders the Ospreys on Sunday evening, as they fended off a determined Glasgow side 25-19 at Thomond Park.
Celtic League: Week 16: Sunday, February 20
Munster 25 Glasgow 19, Thomond Park
Scorers: Munster: Tries: Jason Holland, Alan Quinlan, James Storey; Cons: Paul Burke 2; Pens: Burke 2
Glasgow: Try: Dan Turner; Con: Calvin Howarth; Pens: Howarth 4
Alan Gaffney’s side have a game in hand on the Welsh pacesetters and will look on with interest when Lyn Jones’ men visit Leinster and Lansdowne Road when the league resumes in two weeks.
In Limerick, Hugh Campbell’s Glasgow – who drew 27-27 with leaders the Ospreys three weeks ago – had garnered a 13-point lead midway through the first half.
But tries either side of the break from Jason Holland, Alan Quinlan and James Storey saw the province’s year-long unbeaten run at Thomond remain intact.
Glasgow fly-half Calvin Howarth – who kicked three from six goal shots in the first half – saw the visitors first out of the blocks with a second minute penalty.
The Scotland A international then traded successful kicks with Munster’s Paul Burke before Glasgow lock Dan Turner’s 15th-minute burrow over helped the visitors on the way to a 16-8 lead at the interval.
It was Gareth Maclure – a late replacement for injured wing Kenny Logan – who set it up, as he combined well with fellow flank man Rory Lamont, and with Canadian prop Kevin Tkachuk setting up ruck position Turner crossed with captain Cammy Mather in tandem.
Howarth converted and added his third penalty before Munster – skippered by Frankie Sheahan on his 101st appearance – finally moved up a gear.
Repeated forward drives saw the Glasgow rearguard cave in on 28 minutes when Holland touched down from Burke’s skip pass.
Dominance swung the way of the home side on the restart, and Burke immediately set about carving up Munster’s 16-8 half-time deficit.
The former Harlequin kicked a 42nd-minute penalty and following Quinlan’s try from a traditional home maul 10 minutes later, Burke converted for an 18-16 lead.
Summer signing Storey then got in for his first try on a bustling break from substitute Rob Henderson, converted by Burke.
With Munster number eight David Wallace in the sin-bin, Howarth did manage to pick up a late bonus point for Europe-chasing Glasgow with an injury time penalty, but the home win was already sealed.
Denis Leamy’s suspected hamstring injury, on a day when fellow Ireland flanker Johnny O’Connor damaged his ankle for Wasps, will have international coach Eddie O’Sullivan sweating ahead of their RBS 6 Nations clash with England in six days’ time.
MUNSTER:
(15) Christian Cullen
(14) John Kelly
(13) James Storey
(12) Jason Holland
(11) Anthony Horgan
(10) Paul Burke
(9) Eoin Reddan
(1) Marcus Horan
(2) Frankie Sheahan (Capt)
(3) Gordon McIlwham
(4) Trevor Hogan
(5) Donncha O’Callaghan
(6) Alan Quinlan
(7) Denis Leamy
(8) David Wallace
Replacements used: Rob Henderson for Holland (66 mins), Jim Williams for Leamy (71), Paul Devlin for Storey (80). Not used: Eugene McGovern, Jerry Flannery, Tom Bowman, Mike Prendergast.
GLASGOW: Colin Shaw; Rory Lamont, Graeme Morrison, Scott Barrow, Gareth Maclure; Calvin Howarth, Graeme Beveridge; Kevin Tkachuk, Scott Lawson, Andrew Kelly, Joe Beardshaw, Dan Turner, Steve Swindall, Cammy Mather (Capt), Paul Dearlove.
Replacements used: Andrew Henderson for Barrow (50 mins), Ben Prescott for Kelly (54), Alasdhair McFarlane for Beveridge, Andrew Hall for Dearlove (both 61), Fergus Thomson for Lawson (64), John Barclay for Dearlove (78). Not used: Stephen Manning.
Sin-bin: David Wallace (Munster) (78 mins)
HT: Munster 8 Glasgow 16; Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
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