Coombes Chalks Up Four Tries As Munster Finish Strongly

Munster rounded off their Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup run with a 54-11 bonus point victory over Zebre to make it 20 wins in 25 fixtures across the season.

Two tries apiece from the very impressive Gavin Coombes and player-of-the-match Craig Casey wrapped up the bonus point by half-time, establishing a 28-6 lead.

Further score from Niall Scannell and Liam Coombes – and another two to take Gavin Coombes’ haul in Parma to four – secured a runaway win for the province.

Bulldozing back rower Coombes’ four tries on the night saw him finish the campaign with 15 tries in 22 appearances.

Joey Carbery contributed six conversions with Academy out-half Jake Flannery adding the seventh. Billy Holland stepped up for the final conversion from the right touchline, unfortunately dragging it wide as he played the 247th game of his magnificent Munster career.

Gavin Coombes opened his account against the Italians on nine minutes, taking a quick tap and showing great footwork to score. Carbery soon made it 7-0.

Zebre were enterprising throughout and Carlo Canna kicked two penalties midway through the first half to narrow the lead to a point.

Casey dived over from close range in the 27th minute, following a slick backline move off a lineout with Matt Gallagher and Andrew Conway both tackled just short of the line before the scrum half struck.

Number 8 Coombes was over for the third after a nice lineout move that saw the Skibbereen man peel off and power over the line.

The bonus point was in the bag just before the interval, as Carbery chipped over the top and Chris Farrell gathered before offloading for Casey to finish and put 22 points between the sides.

Niall Scannell scored try number five, six minutes after the break, profiting from a rolling maul to stretch the lead further before a fantastic Carbery recovery tackle saved a certain Zebre try.

Federico Mori did get over for Zebre by the right touchline, with the score no more than Michael Bradley’s men deserved after a battling performance.

Getting the scoreboard moving again for Munster, Liam Coombes grabbed an opportunist score. Mori attempted to chip over the winger but Coombes jumped up to pick off the kick and race in to score with Carbery again converting.

Gavin Coombes was then in for his second hat-trick of the season after the ball went loose in midfield and he showed his pace to streak away and score.

Flannery knocked over the conversion to make it 49-11 and there was a fourth try for Coombes late on as he sneaked down the blindside to score in the right corner.

The bonus point blitz saw Munster finish second in the Northern section of the Rainbow Cup. They ended up two points behind unbeaten Benetton Rugby, who host the Vodacom Bulls in next Saturday’s final.