Munster End On The Proper Note.

Munster brought the curtain down on their season with a gutsy 27-25 win over Zebre at Stadio XXV Aprile in Parma.

Despite tries from Johne Murphy and Paddy Butler – Murphy almost snatched a second – they trailed 22-14 at half time and again by five points on the hour mark but worked a good try from BJ Botha in the 65^th minute that Ian Keatley converted for the vital lead.

They had to survive an onslaught in the final ten minutes and a Daniel Halangahu touchline penalty but ended the game pressing inside the Zebre 22, winning a scrum penalty that was kicked to touch to end what had been a good contest.

Munster: D Hurley; R O’Mahony, C Laulala, I Keatley, J Murphy; JJ Hanrahan, C Sheridan; D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, J Ryan; B Holland, P O’Connell capt; Dave O’Callaghan, S Dougall, P Butler. Replacements: N Scannell, J Cronin, BJ Botha, I Nagle, B Holland, D Williams, C Bohane, F Jones.

Zebre: R Trevisan; G Venditti, A Benettin, G Garcia, S Sinoti; D Halangahu, T Tebaldi; Matias Aguero, D Glazzon, D Ryan; J Sole M Bartolami capt, F Ferrarini, M Bergamasco, A Van Schalkwyk. Replacements: A Manici, L Leibson, A De Marchi, E Caffini, F Cristiano, A Chillon, M Pratichetti, S Pace