Hanrahan Boots Connacht Back To Winning Ways As Munster’s Injury List Lengthens

JJ Hanrahan’s right boot ensured Connacht ended a run of five defeats in all competitions, as injury-ravaged Munster went down 22-9 at the Sportsground.

The unrelenting rain made for a dour BKT United Rugby Championship derby, with Munster leading 6-3 at half-time after Tony Butler’s brace of penalties.

Connacht, who had Byron Ralston sin-binned just before the break, had the better of the second half despite Butler briefly giving Munster a 9-6 advantage.

Adding to his opening 16th-minute kick, a wind-backed Hanrahan fired over four more penalties before converting replacement Jack Aungier’s clinching 77th-minute try.

Jarrad Butler was impressive throughout for Connacht, but his back row colleague, Cian Prendergast, got the nod as the player-of-the-match for another athletic display.

The young Ireland international added to a strong early run with some dogged work at the breakdown and helped to pressurise the Munster lineout at regular intervals.

After watching his side begin the New Year with a hard-earned victory, Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins said: “We deserved the result. I think you’re not going to win an interpro in these conditions without bags of character.

“I thought that was there, the fight, the relentlessness, that was really important for us. Also, there was some smarts in terms of the game management. There was some fantastic defensive sets, which we used to turn momentum and apply pressure back to Munster.

“There was all different bits of our game that stood up, the pressure around the set-piece, the lineout defence, I was really pleased.”

Asked about the injury that ended Mack Hansen’s involvement in the game late on, he confirmed: “Mack injured his shoulder, receiving a cleanout at that breakdown.

“The severity of that we will have to see. Mack is pretty sore downstairs to be honest, but we will get the scans and see where he is at.”

Held try-less for the second game running, first half injuries for Oli Jager and Jack O’Donoghue added to Munster’s unfortunate mid-season woes.

Having missed out on an early try due to Gavin Coombes’ knee touching the end-line, the visitors suffered another setback when prop Jager was stretched off following a double tackle.

Connacht also lost the services of Cathal Forde, with Jack Carty slotting in at out-half and Hanrahan, who opened the scoring from the Munster 22-metre line, moving to centre.

A Hanrahan fumble, coupled with a sliced Hansen kick, gave Munster the platform to draw level through young number 10 Butler in the 22nd minute.

A brilliant 50:22 kick from Butler was followed up by a crooked throw from Scott Buckley – Munster’s lineout struggled at key stages – and Connacht absorbed some more pressure after a Carty kick was blocked by Tom Ahern.

Butler’s 31st-minute penalty did edge Munster in front for the first time, but O’Donoghue had to be replaced after his knee was damaged by Ralston’s dangerous entry at a breakdown.

The Connacht winger returned from his sin-binning, nine minutes into the second period, with Hanrahan having kicked the hosts level.

As the rain continued to sheet down, Munster captain Tadhg Beirne increased his influence at the breakdown and Butler split the posts from just inside the opposition 22.

However, Hanrahan made it nine-all when punishing a John Hodnett offside, and with Munster’s John Ryan popping up at a scrum, Connacht moved back in front with 14 minutes remaining.

Hanrahan then landed his best strike of the night, from just inside the Munster half with nine minutes to go, before narrowly missing from halfway.

Skipper Caolin Blade and Hansen both had to go off, but Connacht sealed the result when prop Aungier drove over from close range after the Munster lineout had misfired again.

Carty’s touch-finding kick pinned Munster back inside their own 22 and put more pressure on their already shaky lineout. Hooker Buckley was unable to find his jumper, the ball going out the back to Connacht replacement Dylan Tierney-Martin.

Possession was retained before Aungier, backed up by Denis Buckley, forced his way over to seal the result. Hanrahan added the extras to complete his handsome 17-point haul.

Giving his reaction following Munster’s third straight loss in all competitions, head coach Graham Rowntree said: “We’re not winning games, but we’re not getting smashed in games either.

“We’re doing lots of good things, high turnover of players, lots of moving parts. We’re sticking in games. We’ve got to learn from games quickly. When the parts are moving consistently, changing personnel, it’s difficult.

“We lost the game because we lost control of it, particularly in the last 10 minutes, where we were starved of field position. They stopped us getting into their 22.

“The breakdown was fierce, the scrum from them towards the end and JJ, with the wind behind him, kicked very well. Obviously our lineout fell apart at the end of the game, and they scored and took everything away from us.”

Speaking about Jager and O’Donoghue’s injuries, he added: “They’re not in a great state. Oli sustained a head injury from a strange looking tackle that was apparently checked (by the TMO).

“Jack (O’Donoghue) got cleared out, a horrible side-entry and his knee got twisted. It’s not great if I’m honest with you. Two injuries we didn’t need.”