U21s Overwhelm Leinster in Donnybrook

Munster U21s kicked off the U21 interprovincial series with a confident 25-5 win over Leinster in Donnybrook on Friday night.

Munster U21s kicked off the U21 interprovincial series with a confident 25-5 win over Leinster in Donnybrook on Friday night.

The first scoring opportunity of the game came after two minutes in the form of a penalty from Barry Keeshan but unfortunately fell wide of the Leinster goal. Leinster failed to respond to early Munster pressure and the visitors took a deserved lead in the ninth minute after a 70 metre break from scrumhalf Thomas O Leary as he intercepted a Conor Sharpe pass from midfield to race clear. Keeshan converted easily to give Munster a 7-0 lead.

Keeshan added a penalty from Leinster s 10-metre line two minutes later. Leinster rallied and an offload from number eight Jamie Heaslip released wing David Foran but the kick and chase was blocked by the alert O Leary. The respite was brief as Keeshan added his second penalty of the sun-drenched evening high into the Bective end following an offside infringement.

Leinster were at their best in the opening when their skipper David O Brien, dangerous with ball in hand, and full-back Ross McCarron, with several breaks through the Munster midfield, in possession. But, chances were few and far between for the home team and Leinster struggled to maintain any kind of rhythm. Keeshan added another penalty on the half hour mark after Heaslip was adjudged to have held onto the ball at a ruck. To Leinster s credit, some of their play across the backline was slick, with centre Ken Copeland and Marc Hewitt particularly threatening, however they often found themselves a man short to add some gloss to the home side s scoreboard.

Sharpe missed a difficult chance to reduce the deficit from a penalty on 32 minutes in Leinster s best point-scoring opportunity of the half. Trailing 16-0 at the interval, Leinster threw caution to the wind and their plight was helped by a 45 minute sin-bin to Munster flanker Mark Melbourne for deliberate offside. Richard White, a 51st minute substitute for David Upton, gave Leinster a greater presence in defence, but Keeshan continued where he left off in the first half with a penalty three minutes later.

As Melbourne returned, Munster left wing Paul Hurley was yellow-carded, again for deliberate offside in a ruck after 55 minutes. Leinster upped the tempo and laid siege on the Munster try-line, and it came as little surprise when Heaslip powered over in the 58th minute to breathe renewed life into Leinster s challenge. Sharpe shaved the wrong side of the upright from the subsequent conversion to make it 19-5. Munster rallied immediately, but a Keeshan penalty sailed high and wide. Keeshan brought his personal tally up to 17 points with 67th minute penalty.

Leinster substitute scrum-half Simon Gibney teased and tormented the Munster line and came close to breaking the deadlock following a 20-metre break, but it was met with stern resistance from Munster s impressive backrow pairing of Ryan Hartigan and Donnacha Ryan. Another late Leinster substitute, Simon Morrissey, shored up a leaky midfield with some thunderous blows, but it was too little too late against a disciplined and rampant Munster side. Keeshan left the field in the dying minutes and Brian Carroll added a super drop goal to seal a deserved 25-5 win.

Final Score: Munster 25 Leinster 5

Munster U21 Team:

15 – Cathal Garvey (UL Bohs, Captain) 14 – Andrew Finn (Dolphin) 13 – Breiffne O’Donnell (UL Bohs) 12 – Brian Hastings (Trinity) 11 – Paul Hurley (UCC) 10 – Barry Keeshan (UCC) 9 – Thomas O’Leary (Cork Con) 1 – Fergus Gately (UCC) 2 – Robert Quinn (UCC) 3 – Emmett McLoughlin (Shannon) 4 – Donnacha Ryan (UCC) 5 – Shane O’Connor (Cork Con) 6 – Mark Melbourne (Garryowen) 7 – Anthony Kavanagh (Garryowen) 8 – Ryan Hartigan (UL Bohs)

Munster Replacements: B. Carroll for Quinn (73 mins), D. Varley for O Donnell & M. Hastings for Melbourne (79 mins), G. Collins for Keeshan (80 mins)

Leinster:

15 – Ross Mc Carron (U.C.D.) 14 – David Foran (D.L.S.P.) 13 – Ken Copeland (Blackrock College) 12 – Conor Sharpe (U.C.D.) 11 – Marc Hewitt (Clontarf) 10 – Mark O Neill (Dublin University) 9 – Daragh Geraghty (U.C.D.) 1 – Johnny Wickham (Clontarf) 2 – Ollie Mc Cormack (St. Mary s College) 3 – Keith Doyle (U.C.D.) 4 – Alex Dunlop (Terenure College) 5 – Owen Cullen (Blackrock College) 6 – David Upton (Lansdowne) 7 – David O Brien (Old Belvedere, Captain) 8 – Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University)

Leinster Replacements: R. White for Upton (51 mins), S. Gibney for Geraghty (65 mins), S. Morrissey for Sharpe & D. Gavin for McCormack (70 mins), C. O Byrne for Wickham(73 mins)

Scorers:

Munster Scorers: T. O Leary try; B. Keeshan – conversion, 5 penalty; B. Carroll drop goal.

Leinster Scorers: J. Heaslip try

Referee: M. Kilgore