Munster Tune Up For Benetton Quarter-Final With Derby Victory

Conor Murray’s pre-match withdrawal failed to derail Munster as they closed out the GUINNESS PRO14’s regular season with a 27-14 derby win over Connacht at Thomond Park.

Scrum half Murray, who appeared to hurt his neck, pulled out after a team-mate backed into him at a ruck during the warm-up. Head coach Johann van Graan said afterwards: “He literally got a knock with the last breakdown of the warm-up. It was a counter-ruck and he took a knock.

“It happened literally seven or eight metres away from me. I got the medical team involved and we made a decision not to play Conor. He could have possibly played but we decided to err on the side of caution. We’ll give some more info on Monday. It’s just very stiff at this stage, that’s all I can say.”

Second-placed Munster needed Edinburgh to do them a favour tonight, but Glasgow Warriors sealed top spot in Conference A and a home semi-final with a 34-10 Scotstoun victory. Van Graan’s men will host Benetton at Thomond Park in next Saturday’s quarter-final (kick-off 3pm), while Connacht, who were already assured of third spot, travel to provincial rivals Ulster for a 5.35pm kick-off in Belfast.

First half tries from Tadhg Beirne and Mike Haley had the men in red 17-7 ahead at half-time, much-changed Connacht sandwiching in a converted score from fit-again prop Finlay Bealham. Tyler Bleyendaal’s 56th-minute penalty was replied to by a hard-earned Eoin McKeon try, but replacement JJ Hanrahan settled the issue six minutes from the end with a smartly-taken seven-pointer.

A scrappy opening quarter was scoreless until Bleyendaal booted a 20th-minute penalty, punishing Tom McCartney’s slow retreat. 21-year-old Academy out-half Conor Dean made his debut for Connacht and apart from a 13th-minute penalty miss, the former Ireland Under-20 international settled in well with a variety of kicks out of hand.

Murray’s replacement Neil Cronin and Kieran Marmion had a ding-dong battle at scrum half, the latter providing the attacking spark for Connacht’s 23rd-minute try. The forwards responded to his snipe with some pick-and-goes before loosehead Bealham stretched out to score past Niall Scannell and Chris Cloete from close range. Dean converted for a 7-3 scoreline.

However, with most of their Champions Cup contingent involved, Munster were the better side. Andrew Conway had egg on his face after failing to finish an intercept try – former Munster winger Stephen Fitzgerald chased him behind the posts and knocked the ball out of his grasp – but a subsequent two-try surge had the hosts 10 points clear.

Jean Kleyn’s line created the space for man-of-the-match Beirne to ghost through, evade Niyi Adeolokun’s grasp and crash in under the posts. Bleyendaal converted and also added the extras to full-back Haley’s 36th-minute effort, Conway showing his pace on the right wing before Peter O’Mahony took the ball on and fed Haley to complete the move.

With Connacht struggling on their own lineout, Munster resumed on the front foot and it took a try-saving intervention from Tiernan O’Halloran to deny Dan Goggin from Bleyendaal’s initial chip kick. It was a niggly final 40 minutes, Connacht pressing from a series of penalty kicks to the corner but Munster’s sharp defence holding them at bay.

With 68 minutes on the clock, Munster lost replacement prop Jeremy Loughman to the sin-bin for not scrummaging straight having been warned by referee Frank Murphy. Connacht flanker McKeon deservedly burrowing over, Dean’s conversion reducing the arrears to 20-14, but it was the youngster’s loose pass which ultimately led to Munster’s clinching try – Beirne and Conway were involved again before Hanrahan used a dummy to snipe over and convert.

Giving his reaction afterwards, New Zealander Bleyendaal said: “We made it tough at the end but it was a really good performance. It’s nice to build some momentum into the play-offs. Connacht were throwing everything at us. We’ve a lot to work on but we’re really happy with the win.

“The guys really gave me some front-foot ball, we got our maul working for a bit as well, so it was a great team effort and we’re really happy with the result. The last one (interprovincial derby) of the regular season…even watching the games from the other countries beforehand, it just seemed like an exciting round of rugby.

“Connacht out here today was no different. We had good fun, it was a good battle. We’re happy, we’ve got a home quarter-final now. Benetton have been playing some great rugby and we played them not long ago. We’re expecting a massive challenge but we’re really excited to get in front of our home fans.

“We’ve worked hard all season to get up into that top-two position so we need to make the most of it. We’re looking forward to the supporters coming out and making a lot of noise (next week) and we’ll try and put a performance out for them.”

Ireland U-20 Grand Slam winner Craig Casey, who was bumped up to the bench due to Murray’s injury, made his Munster debut in the final four minutes. Van Graan explained: “It was a fantastic evening for Craig, he was just with the squad to experience the first team for the first time and (after we pulled Conor in) I asked Craig was he ready to go and he said, ‘coach, I’m 100% ready to go’, and he got his first cap for Munster.”