Celtic League: O’Gara Injury Mars Munster Win

Ronan O’Gara’s participation in next Sunday’s Heineken Cup quarter final against Biarritz was plunged into serious doubt after the fly-half injured himself in Munster’s 24-8 slaying of the Dragons.

CELTIC LEAGUE: Friday, March 25
Newport-Gwent Dragons 8 Munster 24, Rodney Parade
Scorers: Dragons: Try: Kevin Morgan; Pen: Ceri Sweeney
Munster: Tries: Alan Quinlan, John Kelly, Shaun Payne; Cons: Paul Burke 3; Pen: Ronan O’Gara

O’Gara shipped a heavy tackle from the Dragons’ Jamie Ringer on 35 minutes, when following through on a clearance kick, and suffered damage to his right knee.

The Ireland star left the field in obvious pain, to be replaced by Paul Burke and it now looks increasingly likely that the former Harlequins number 10 will line out against Biarritz in San Sebastian.

Friday night’s result – only Munster’s second win in ten visits to the land of the Valleys – left them poised nine points behind table toppers the Ospreys, but Lyn Jones’ side should clinch the league title this evening against Edinburgh.

Tied 3-3 at the break – thanks to O’Gara and Ceri Sweeney penalties – at Rodney Parade, Alan Quinlan touched down on 57 minutes to move Alan Gaffney’s men clear.

Man-of-the-match John Kelly soon added a second after a fumble from the Dragons rearguard and although Kevin Morgan crossed for the home side to make it 8-17 – Shaun Payne was on hand on 72 minutes to outpace Wales full-back Morgan to a Burke grubber and seal a morale-boosting victory for the men in red.

Try scorer Kelly said afterwards: “We’re happy with the win. It’s been a long time since we’ve won in Wales – and it means a lot especially after the Grand Slam week they’ve had here.

“Mathematically we still have a chance to win the title but it’s out of our hands so all we can do is keep going. It’s a small bit of revenge for last week,” he added, on the topic of Wales’ Six Nations success and the presence of the Championship trophy.

O’Gara’s woe was tempered for Munster by their excellent lineout performance – winning 21 out of 21 Frankie Sheahan throws – coupled with the belated arrival of Samoan signing Brian Lima in Dublin just hours earlier.

Legendary centre-cum-winger Lima is due to meet his new team-mates in Limerick on Monday.

DRAGONS: Kevin Morgan; Gareth Chapman, Percy Montgomery, Sione Tuipulotu, Ben Breeze; Ceri Sweeney, James Ireland; Adam Black, Steve Jones, Rhys Thomas, Ian Gough, Luke Charteris, Jamie Ringer, Jason Forster (Capt), Michael Owen.

Replacements used: Peter Sidoli for Charteris (58 mins), James Richards for Jones (62), Rod Snow and Chris Anthony for Black and Thomas (both 65), Jon Bryant for Montgomery (69), Daniel Griffiths for Morgan (76). Not used: Rhys Oakley.

MUNSTER:

(15) Shaun Payne
(14) John Kelly
(13) Mike Mullins
(12) Rob Henderson
(11) Anthony Horgan
(10) Ronan O’Gara
(9) Peter Stringer
(1) Marcus Horan
(2) Frankie Sheahan
(3) Frank Roche
(4) Donncha O’Callaghan
(5) Trevor Hogan
(6) Alan Quinlan
(7) David Wallace
(8) Jim Williams (Capt)

Replacements used: Paul Burke for O’Gara (36 mins), Eugene McGovern for Horan (62), Stephen Keogh for Wallace (75), Paul Devlin for Horgan (78). Not used: James Blaney, Tom Bowman, Frank Murphy.

HT: Dragons 3 Munster 3; Attendance: 2,650
Referee: Rob Dickson (Scotland)