Munster 28 – Edinburgh 21

A crowd of 4000 turned up at MeadowBank in Edinburgh to see Munster take another win. A Try from Rob Henderson and 7 penalties and a conversion from Jeremey Staunton secured the Munster victory.

A crowd of 4000 turned up at MeadowBank to see Munster take on Edinburgh. Early scoring in the game saw both teams at 3 points all after two penalties, but it was Edinburgh who were first to go over the line due to a poor Munster defence with a try in the 8th minute by Derek Lee to take the score to 8-3.

Jeremy Staunton soon responded with two penalties to give Munster the lead at 9 points to 8. It was not too long before Munsters defence let them down again, in the 30th minute, following a blocked Rob Henderson clearance, Chris Patterson went over the line to give Edinburgh a 6 point advantage (15-9). Then it was Jeremy Staunton’s turn again to step up to the ball, and he done well and managed to kick another two penalties. As the first half ended Brendan Laney kicked a penalty for Edinburgh to leave the half-time score – Edinburgh 18 Munster 15.

The second half started in Munsters favour with Staunton kicking another penalty leaving the teams with 18 points a piece. Munster then found themselves down to 14 men with Alan Quinlan in the Sin Bin, and this resulted in Edinburgh kicking a drop goal.

With the game drawing to a close, Munster got a penalty inside Edinburgh’s 22 on the LHS which one would have expected Staunton to kick, but Munster opted to run the ball and managed to maul their way to the Edinburgh line, and with the ball spun out the line, Rob Henderson managed to get over the line for a fine try that was then converted by Staunton. Munster 25 – Edinburgh 21. Munster then got another penalty in injury time, that of course Staunton turned into another 3 points. Final Score Munster 28 Edinburgh 21.

In a game that Alan Gaffney admitted did not exactly go to plan, you would have to admire the tenacity and commitment of Munster, who hold their unbeaten record in this years Celtic League. Man of the match went to Edinburgh’s Simon Taylor. Great game for Munster with Jeremy Staunton, Donnacha O’Callaghan, Mick O’Driscoll & Jim Williams performing exceptionally well.

Munster 28 – Edinburgh 21

Scorers: Munster – Jeremy Staunton (7 penalties & 1 conversion), Rob Henderson (1 Try). Edinburgh – Derek Lee (1 Try), Chris Patterson (1 Try), Brendan Laney (2 penalties, 1 conversion), Duncan Hodge (1 Drop Goal).

The Teams:

Munster

Jeremy Staunton; John Kelly, Mike Mullins, Rob Henderson, John O Neill; Jason Holland. Dominic Malone; Marcus Horan, Frank Sheahan, John Hayes; Donncha O Callaghan, Mick O Driscoll; Jim Williams, Alan Quinlan, Anthony Foley.

Replacements: Simon Kerr, James Blaney, Mick Galwey, Eddie Halvey, Mike Prendergast, Killian Keane, Dominic Crotty.

Edinburgh

Brendan Laney; Derrick Lee, Craig Joiner, Graham Shiel, Chris Paterson; Duncan Hodge, Mike Blair; Allan Jacobsen, Dougie Hall, Craig Smith; Nathan Hines, Scott Murray; Todd Blackadder, Simon Taylor, Martin Leslie.

Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Joel Brannigan, Alastair Kellock, Andrew Dall, Mark McMillan, Tom Philip, Simon Webster.