A 57-metre penalty from Conor Murray was the match-winning score for Munster in Bloemfontein tonight as Johann van Graan’s men recovered from 14-0 down to secure a gritty GUINNESS PRO14 victory over the Toyota Cheetahs.
First half replacement Conor Murray, who touched down in the 36th minute immediately after his introduction for the injured James Hart, was the Munster try scorer with JJ Hanrahan also kicking very well on the night, landing three penalties and a conversion.
Munster’s hard-earned win saw them become the first visiting team to win both of their PRO14 games in South Africa, following last week’s successful trip to George. It also means they are guaranteed to finish second in Conference A and will have a home semi-final qualifier on May 4-6.
The third-placed Toyota Cheetahs, who began the round only six points behind Munster, led after 10 minutes thanks to a Clayton Blommetjies try in the right corner. From the first real attack by either side, the hosts won a penalty off a scrum and Johan Goosen kicked the hosts deep into Munster territory. The Munster forwards just about repelled the initial attack but the Cheetahs had numbers on the opposite flank and full-back Blommetjies touched down with Goosen’s touchline conversion making it 7-0.
The Cheetahs’ tails were up now with the offloads sticking, and the visitors needed a desperate last-ditch tackle from Andrew Conway to prevent a second try before a big hit from Sam Arnold on Uzair Cassiem stopped the attack as the line beckoned. Simon Zebo was sin-binned in the aftermath but Munster had survived.
An excellent turnover from Niall Scannell won possession back for the Champions Cup semi-finalists and when the maul was illegally dragged down, they went to the corner but the lineout was spoiled by the Cheetahs and the chance was gone.
The South Africans extended their lead just before the half hour mark. A scrappy ruck saw Munster win a turnover before the Cheetahs won the ball back immediately and Blommetjies managed to streak clear and put scrum half Tian Meyer over in the right corner. Goosen was again on target with the extras and the Munstermen trailed 14-0.
Jack O’Donoghue looked to have struck back immediately, following some slick play deep inside the Cheetahs 22 off a scrum, but TMO Shaun Veldsman ruled out the try with Munster deemed to have knocked on in the build-up.
A Goosen fumble had given Munster the opportunity and the out-half again dropped the ball as the Cheetahs looked to clear the lines, with the newly-introduced Murray scoring with his first touch after breaking off the back of the resulting five-metre scrum.
Kerry native Hanrahan made no mistake with the conversion and the arrears were reduced to 14-7. However, an early Billy Holland challenge on Blommetjies gave Goosen his first penalty chance after 39 minutes and the number 10 gave the Cheetahs a 17-7 advantage to take into the break.
A big tackle from Holland and good work by Robin Copeland won a long range 44th-minute penalty which was excellently struck by Hanrahan to cut the gap back to seven points. He landed another tough penalty kick, eight minutes later, with Munster on top early in the second half.
The penalties were building up as the Cheetahs continued to infringe and Hanrahan kicked his third penalty goal just past the hour mark, as Munster moved to within a point and some well-timed substitutions by the coaches kept the energy and intensity high.
Yet another penalty, this time for a lineout infringement, gave Murray the chance to kick Munster ahead from inside his own half in the high altitude. His well-struck effort flew over with something to spare and the men in read were now ahead, leading 19-17 with 14 minutes remaining.
The Cheetahs looked to strike back in the closing stages but, despite the tough Highveld conditions and a heavy pitch, the Munster defence was rock solid. The pack had the final say in the scrum as they won a penalty after the hooter to secure possession and four of their hardest earned points of the PRO14 campaign.
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