Munster produced an excellent team performance to move further clear at the top of Heineken Champions Cup Pool 2 thanks to a superb 41-15 bonus point win over Gloucester at Kingsholm Stadium tonight.
Man-of-the-match Joey Carbery (two), Rory Scannell, Keith Earls and Andrew Conway shared out the tries, with Carbery again flawless from the tee for the third successive game with five conversions and two penalties from seven attempts.
The young out-half cancelled out a Billy Twelvetrees penalty and scored the visitors’ opening try in the 23rd minute, piloting the province to a 20-3 interval lead thanks to a second penalty and the conversion of centre Rory Scannell’s determined late try at the end of 26 phases.
Despite tries from Ollie Thorley and Fraser Balmain, the Cherry and Whites were no match for a dominant Munster side who stayed in control of the scoreboard thanks to their clinical score-taking. The only downside was the 45th-minute rib injury-enforced departure of captain Peter O’Mahony.
His replacement Billy Holland impressed off the bench, offloading in a tight space for Keith Earls to get over in the corner and Carbery’s well-weighted kick through set up Andrew Conway for a 65th-minute bonus point score, before Carbery swooped for a closing intercept try barely two minutes later.
The result considerably strengthens Munster’s hand at the top of the pool, moving them onto 17 points ahead of their sold-out round 6 clash with Exeter Chiefs next Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm). Gloucester are on eight points as are Exeter ahead of their Sunday date with second-placed Castres Olympique (nine points).
Gloucester made the perfect start when former Munster forward Gerbrandt Grobler claimed the kick-off with the hosts then winning a penalty and kicking to the corner. Tadhg Beirne did brilliantly to disrupt the Gloucester maul and then a big scrum secured the pool leaders a relieving penalty.
Gloucester were soon back on the front foot, though, and when referee Romain Poite penalised Munster at the breakdown in the 13th minute, experienced centre Twelvetrees stepped up to land the long-range place-kick for a 3-0 lead.
The Munstermen looked to hit back immediately with the ever-threatening Conway very nearly latching onto a Carbery chip down the right wing. They got off the mark on 19 minutes after a good spell of pressure yielded a penalty for offside and Carbery made no mistake with his trusty right boot.
Johann van Graan’s charges kept up the pressure with a dent in the Gloucester defence provided by big carries from CJ Stander and Chris Farrell, who shrugged off a knee injury to start. Suddenly, Conor Murray whipped out the decisive pass from the base of a ruck under the Gloucester posts with Carbery darting over to score.
Stander and the increasingly-influential Beirne soon combined to win a penalty at the breakdown and Carbery landed a very difficult penalty to increase the Munster lead to 13-3. There was no let up from the visitors as they continued to build pressure with an enviable mix of power and patience to their phase play.
Try number two arrived in timely fashion just before the break, with Scannell brilliantly ouncing off Charlie Sharples’ poor tackle attempt and straightening to charge over past two further defenders. Carbery added the extras to widen the margin to 17 points.
Stung by that concession, Gloucester needed a good start to the second period and they got it. Eleven minutes in, winger Thorley finished off in the left corner 52 minutes having gone through 35 phases virtually camped on the Munster line.
Magnificent Munster defence held out for so long but they were finally breached and Gloucester were back in the game. Twelvertrees was unlucky to see his conversion come back off the near post. With O’Mahony sidelined, Holland’s 201st Munster appearance saw him make a huge impact.
The Cork-born second row expertly set up Earls to ground his 15th European try, showing again that Munster continued to have the answers. Carbery knocked over a terrific touchline conversion for a 27-8 scoreline with 23 minutes to go.
Conway was denied Munster’s bonus point try on the hour mark after he chipped ahead to finish superbly but Farrell’s offload was adjudged to be forward in the build-up. The Premiership outfit kept their hopes alive with tighthead Balmain’s try from close range via a rolling maul, and Twelvetrees’ conversion restored the 12-point deficit.
However, an inventive Carbery kick in behind the defence was fastened onto by Conway who gobbled it up to deservedly register the bonus point. The try’s creator converted and then took Munster past the 40-point mark when he completed his brace, reading the play superbly to pick off a pass in midfield and race clear to seal the five-try success.
Giving his reaction afterwards, Munster boss van Graan said: “We’re very happy with the win and the bonus point. We knew this was going to be a massive game and Gloucester started with real intent, that first penalty they went to the corner.
“We knew it was going to be a tough one and we kept them out. Two other moments in the game for me – the try just before half-time that we scored. I thought our patience was so good, something we’ve worked on over the last three weeks.
“The try they scored after half-time was 35 phases and even though they scored the try that actually made us stronger in terms of our belief. We’ll take this bonus point win away from home. It’s Exeter next, one of the form sides across Europe. It’s only Friday night now, which means two extra rest days, we’ll reassess on Monday and we start again at zero.”
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