Crowley Plays Central Role As In-Form Munster Book Home Quarter-Final

Jack Crowley crowned a classy player-of-the-match performance with a 69th-minute penalty which gave Munster a 29-26 bonus point win over Edinburgh.

Although trailing by 11 points at one stage, Graham Rowntree’s side rallied impressively to secure a home quarter-final with their eighth straight BKT United Rugby Championship triumph – the province’s best run of results in the league since 2017.

An Antoine Frisch brace of tries saw them recover from a slow start at Hive Stadium. Edinburgh still led 16-12 at half-time, with Mark Bennett touching down and ex-Munster out-half Ben Healy kicking 11 points.

Crowley converted his own try, and also topped off Gavin Coombes’ 53rd-minute bonus point score, as the defending champions, while not reaching the heights of recent displays, twice took the lead before the Scottish outfit hit back.

Healy took his tally to 16 points, converting replacement Boan Venter’s levelling effort while Conor Murray was in the sin bin. However, Crowley split the posts before Murray’s return to hand Edinburgh only their second URC home defeat of the season.

Jack O’Donoghue ran out on his own in recognition of becoming the youngest ever Munster player to amass 200 caps. The 30-year-old was prominent in a promising initial attack, with the excellent Jeremy Loughman and Crowley linking neatly, before it broke down.

Healy put early points on the board, though, with Pierre Schoeman winning turnover ball and Duhan van der Merwe’s kick chase forcing Mike Haley to concede a five-metre scrum. The opening three points came after Loughman was slow to roll away.

Healy doubled Edinburgh’s lead to six points following a 12th-minute scrum penalty, but Munster began to make inroads soon after. Their big ball carriers gained ground but James Lang kept Coombes out near the left corner.

Munster’s centres did manage to get them over the line, as Alex Nankivell’s long skip pass found Frisch on the left wing, and he won the race to his own chip through, collecting the bouncing ball ahead of Wes Goosen and grounding it ahead of van der Merwe.

However, the visitors suffered a double blow in the 22nd minute, with a clash of heads with Fineen Wycherley forcing full-back Mike Haley’s permanent departure, and Healy knocked over his third successful kick for a 9-5 lead.

Bennett’s opportunist try widened the gap as Munster paid the price for a lost lineout, and a key turnover claimed by Jamie Ritchie. Bennett’s kick through came off Calvin Nash, Frisch could not gather it, and a slight nudge through by Lang set up his centre partner to score.

A loose Edinburgh lineout, picked up at the rear by Loughman, saw Munster launch a series of attacks on the half hour mark. They forced a scrum penalty and then while playing advantage, struck for try number two.

Coombes’ quick hands in front of the posts freed up his half-backs to send Frisch crashing over despite Goosen’s tackle. Crowley converted to leave just four points in it at the interval.

Within three minutes of the restart, Munster had edged ahead for the first time. Off a scrum inside Edinburgh’s 22, replacement Rory Scannell’s pass out the back, combined with Frisch attracting a couple of defenders, opened it up for Crowley to nip over and convert.

Successive penalties, including one won at the breakdown by Hamish Watson, allowed Healy to draw the Scots level in the 49th minute. Munster wasted little time in responding, aided by their strong bench.

RG Snyman and Tom Ahern helped to force a penalty straight from the restart, before a tackle from the Springbok on his former team-mate, Healy, sparked a brief scuffle. When the dust settled, Viliame Mata was penalised for ‘escalating the situation’.

Billy Scannell, who carried well during his 65 minutes on the pitch, set up a close-in ruck from his tap penalty, and then Coombes, with Ahern latching on, muscled his way over for his second try in three games. Crowley’s conversion made it 26-19.

As Edinburgh began to build some pressure and unload their bench, Nankivell unfortunately had to limp off injured. Murray came on, slotting in at full-back in the visitors’ rejigged back-line.

With some of referee Gianluca Gnecchi’s decisions going against them at key stages, a fired-up Edinburgh came hunting again. Mata’s inviting inside pass released Bennett on a surging run. He went close – Crowley denied him with a great tackle – but Murray saw yellow for playing the ball off his feet.

A series of reset scrums tested the home crowd’s patience, but they produced the biggest cheer of the night when TMO Stuart Terheege spotted the grounding for Venter’s close-range try, despite Ahern’s efforts to hold him up.

The extras from Healy squared things up for a second time, only for a knock-on to give Munster an immediate attacking platform. They worked the ball infield, Lang was not quick enough in rolling away, and Crowley’s place-kick from around 30 metres out was pinpoint accurate.

Edinburgh’s subsequent decision to turn down a kick at the posts backfired when their lineout ball went loose and John Ryan pounced on it. Craig Casey’s box-kicking, coupled with a scrum penalty, saw Munster close out the game on their terms, almost sneeking a late try from a maul.

Rowntree’s charges have moved to the top of the table ahead of the final round on May 31-June 1, when they host Ulster. A home play-off run is there for the taking, with Glasgow Warriors and Leinster both losing on the road this weekend.