Video | Highlights, Gallery & Reaction – Exeter v Munster

13th September 2021 By The Editor

Niall Scannell is tackled by Rus Tuima. Inpho

Munster’s pre-season programme continued on Saturday with a good workout against Exeter Chiefs as 31 players featured in the clash, including four Greencore Munster Rugby Academy members.

The entertaining encounter was played in front of a vocal Exeter crowd with an attendance of 8,775 at Sandy Park.

A good performance by the Munster men included tries from Rory Scannell, Calvin Nash (two), Neil Cronin and Roman Salanoa. Ben Healy and Jack Crowley added points off the tee.

The final scoreline ended 31-19 in Munster’s favour and the game was a very useful run-out ahead of the province’s United Rugby Championship opener against Sharks at Thomond Park on Saturday, September 25 (7.35pm).

Buy Munster v Sharks tickets here.

Read our round-up of Saturday’s clash in Exeter here.

Gallery | Click here for the best match pics

Reaction

Speaking after the game, Munster Head Coach Johann van Graan said: “Very pleased with the squad effort. Today wasn’t so much about the result, it’s about the squad. We gave 31 players game time, we dug deep into our squad and into the Academy and I’m very glad for the players – they’ve worked really hard in pre-season and put in that performance against one of the clubs that we respect the most.

“This is our second outing here, the last time was a 10-all draw in Europe and we have a massive amount of respect for Exeter.

“That was a real game of rugby. They attacked really well, as they always do, and I thought our lineout defence was really good. I thought our maul-stopping was pretty good. They scored some good tries and it’s really pleasing from our side to come to Sandy Park and score five tries.

“From a squad perspective, it’s great to have the confidence to come here and deliver that performance and we have a whole host of guys fighting for a spot in that first game [against Sharks at Thomond Park].

“Last week [the Munster Challenge Match] was a good training exercise but today was the real deal in front of eight or nine thousand people here at Sandy Park and very happy with the performance. The result is irrelevant because both teams made a lot of changes but the way that we played, the way we defended, our set-piece, our attack – pretty happy with that.”