Zebo On The Double As Munster See Off Sharks

Simon Zebo marked his Munster return with two tries in a 42-17 United Rugby Championship victory over Cell C Sharks at Thomond Park.

Match Photo Gallery: Munster 42 Cell C Sharks 17

The Cork man, who moved back from Racing 92 in the summer, romped clear in the fifth minute, with further tries from Craig Casey and Gavin Coombes leaving it 20-3 at half-time.

Young number 8 Coomes completed his brace in the 50th minute – sealing the bonus point – before Henry ‘Boeta’ Chamberlain lifted the Sharks with an intercept effort.

Although Yaw Penxe also sliced through for a classy score, Munster added a late gloss with replacement Chris Cloete and Zebo both crossing to add to a Ben Healy penalty.

The Sharks had nothing to show for their early dominance of possession – Curwin Bosch missed a penalty – and Munster stung them with an unconverted try against the run of play.

Zebo snapped up a loose offload and embarked on a 50-metre run-in down the left touchline, with Werner Kok unable to reel him in.

Munster applied pressure in the 25th minute, the visitors leaking a series of penalties – only for Thomas du Toit to rip the ball away, allowing the South Africans to clear the danger.

However, the former Munster prop saw yellow soon after, having infringed at a ruck. Joey Carbery mopped up the three points for an 8-0 scoreline.

Bosch cancelled out that kick, rewarding a purposeful run from captain Phepsi Buthelezi. Munster duly pushed on, taking advantage of du Toit’s absence as Casey used a dummy to score from a close-in scrum.

A late bout of pressure from the Munster pack had Coombes burrowing over for Carbery to convert.

The second half was a stop-start affair, but Munster bagged their bonus point when Coombes struck from two metres out.

Carbery added his second conversion before his floated pass was picked off by Chamberlain for the South Africans’ opening try of the competition.

In response to a monster Healy penalty, Penxe’s pacy finish – from a terrific Jeremy Ward offload – showed the Sharks’ attacking spark.

Nonetheless, Munster slammed the door shut with Cloete driving low for the line in the 77th minute, followed by Zebo’s closer just two minutes later.

Johann van Graan’s men saved the best for last as their sixth try of the night was a cracking team effort.

Quick hands across the line, including a peach of a pass from Mike Haley, released Dan Goggin who sent through an inch-perfect kick for Zebo to dot down in the left corner.

The smallest man on the pitch rose to the occasion once more as Munster scrum half Casey, who was up against the ever-influential Ruan Pienaar, was selected as the player-of-the-match.

The 22-year-old caught Marius Louw out for his score down the short side of a scrum, and he marshalled a try-hungry Munster pack around the pitch.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Casey said: “It is incredible to be back playing in front of fans again. We missed them loads. I had goosebumps when we did the half lap in the warm-up.

“Then when RG (Snyman) came on off the bench, the noise was unreal. He has been to hell and back in the last 13 months. It is great to have him back.”

Head coach van Graan commented: “It was incredible to play rugby in front of our fans again. That’s the one thing we said, we miss them very much.

“From a rugby point of view, the five points we got was a real positive. I think our accuracy (needs to improve). A lot of guys played their first game. We created some brilliant opportunities. We gave them that intercept try.

“We will go and review it but this was a very positive experience today because rugby is about special moments. Having the crowd here was special. I was so glad for Zeebs and was so glad for RG to get to play again after being out for so long.

“He was really excited when he got named in the squad earlier in the week. He will get fitter on the back of that – he has a long way to go in terms of building up minutes.”