A Tyler Bleyendaal penalty in the final play snatched a losing bonus point for Munster, but a three-try first half performance saw Cardiff Blues run out deserved 25-18 winners of this GUINNESS PRO14 clash.
On the night that Jack O’Donoghue became the first Waterford man to captain Munster in the professional era, the province unfortunately turned in a Jekyll and Hyde performance at the Arms Park as they recovered from a 19-point deficit before losing their way again in the final quarter.
The visitors played a big part in their own downfall as poor defending allowed Cardiff blitz them for three tries between the 18th and 26th minutes, with scrum half Duncan Williams also charged down by his opposite number Lloyd Williams for the middle score.
The Blues were just the sharper, hungrier side during this spell, and although Munster did fight back to make a game of it with their forwards forcing the issue near half-time and during a much-improved third quarter, Johann van Graan’s men allowed the momentum to slip from their grasp once more.
Chris Cloete’s try before the break from a lineout maul had cut the gap to 19-5, before an Ian Keatley penalty and a 52nd-minute converted score from full-back Stephen Fitzgerald, who celebrated the extension of his development contract for another year, had the margin down to just four points.
However, two costly penalties from Munster were turned into six points by the reliable right boot of Jarrod Evans after 67 and 75 minutes, putting the game beyond the reach of the visitors who grabbed a late bonus point thanks to a crisp strike from the returning Tyler Bleyendaal.
The province remain second in Conference A of GUINNESS PRO14, but leaders Glasgow Warriors, who visit Irish Independent Park next Friday night, have a significant 16-point lead at the summit and are the first team to guarantee their place in the final series.
Having made 10 changes to the team that defeated Zebre 33-5 last weekend, Munster were unable to generate much momentum early on. Keatley did get a penalty opportunity after Matthew Rees was caught offside at a maul, but his miscued eighth-minute kick sailed wide.
Play was congested in and around the halfway line, with Cardiff quick off the mark in chopping down the Munster carriers while their own attack grew into the game. After Keatley had kicked the ball out on the full, veteran hooker Rees used a clever lineout move to break along the right touchline, the Blues swarming through towards the posts before Ellis Jenkins’ long cut-out pass put Macauley Cook over in the corner for a five-pointer.
The Munster half-backs were not covering themselves in glory on the all-weather surface, Duncan Williams almost being intercepted by Garyn Smith before his attempted box-kick, a couple of minutes later, was charged down by Lloyd Williams in the Munster 22 and he regathered the loose ball for Cardiff’s second try. Rhys Marshall had to share the blame for his lack of protection of Williams, at the side of the ruck.
The mistakes kept coming from Munster, Keatley putting his restart out over the right touchline, and from the resulting scrum, Rey Lee-Lo’s kick in behind the defence was collected by winger Owen Lane who handed off Keatley to finish smartly in the left corner. Out-half Evans swung over an excellent second conversion for a 19-0 lead.
An important turnover by Robin Copeland lifted the men in red, who built momentum through successive penalties and their well-drilled maul. From one such drive, Cloete was brought down but released the ball and quickly picked it back up to plunge over the line, scoring a carbon copy of his try against the Ospreys in December
Copeland came to Munster’s rescue again when he forced a penalty for not releasing as Cardiff hammered on the door for their bonus point try. Van Graan’s charges should have ended the first half pressing for their second try, but an error-prone Keatley missed touch from a late penalty.
Nonetheless, they enjoyed an immediate purple patch when the second period got underway. Keatley was hit with a high tackle by man-of-the-match Jenkins and mopped up with the three points from straight in front of the posts, clawing the deficit back to 19-8.
Playing with much more accuracy, energy and directness, Munster used their forwards to build through the phases and win a series of penalties in Cardiff territory. They were held up in a maul before repeated infringements resulted in Rees seeing yellow for going offside near his try-line.
Taking the scrum option, a strong set of carries saw Gerbrandt Grobler, on his first PRO14 start, and Copeland both go close to scoring before space was created on the right for Rory Scannell to send Fitzgerald over for the second try of his Munster career. Keatley’s well-struck conversion made it 19-15, heading towards the hour mark.
The next score would be crucial and Cardiff managed to steady the ship, riding out the rest of the sin-bin period before Evans, who had threatened on a half-break, slung a penalty through the uprights to put a converted try between the sides.
Munster’s decision-making and execution was letting them down as they coughed up a number of penalties in both halves, handing the advantage back to their Welsh opponents at a vital stage. A very harsh call against James Cronin at a ruck allowed Evans to boot the Blues into a 10-point lead.
It was seven by the time referee Stuart Berry blew the final whistle, the province’s late surge ensuring they took home a point. James Hart pinched a Cardiff scrum ball and fellow replacement Bleyendaal, who was playing for the first time since sustaining a neck injury against Castres Olympique in October, held his nerve to land a last-gasp penalty from 33 metres out.
Giving his reaction afterwards, Munster head coach van Graan said: “The first half most definitely cost us the game. When you play away from home and you’re 19-0 down, you can’t be expected to win the game. The disappointing thing was that it was all our own errors.
“Credit to the team because at half-time we reassessed and said that it wasn’t good enough. I thought we did well to come back to within one score at 19-15 and we had a couple of opportunities to get in front, but didn’t use them. At the end to come away with a losing bonus point, I think I’l take that.”
He added: “The mood of the squad is disappointment. We came here to win even though we always knew Cardiff were a good side. The disappointing thing for us is we didn’t make them work very hard. It was our own errors and they were basic errors.
“I don’t think it was a slow start. In the first eight minutes we played very well, we had a kick at goal and missed that and then we had a charge-down and kicked one ball straight into touch. It’s not that we lost the territory battle or the possession battle.”
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