Munster fell to a 21-26 defeat to Cardiff in Wales on Friday night in Round 16 of the URC.
The men in red did secure a losing bonus point which may prove crucial come the end of the regular season.
Cardiff started stronger with a long period of possession leading to what seemed to be a try from Johan Mulder but the TMO correctly intervened and it was disallowed due to a forward pass from Danny Southworth.
Munster responded with a period of possession in the Cardiff half with a snipe from Craig Casey bringing play into the opponent’s 22. With front-foot ball, Alex Nankivell opted for skip pass out wide but it went forward as Cardiff got a chance to relieve the pressure.
A penalty conceded by Cardiff for not rolling away saw Munster kick to the corner. The visitors secured possession before a strong carry from Alex Kendellen got Munster on the front foot before Casey did the same with trademark snipe from the base of the ruck. With Munster camped on the Cardiff line, Casey sent a pass out wide to Calvin Nash who dotted down for the opening try of the game. Crowley’s conversion ensured a 0-7 lead after 13 minutes.
Munster with their tails up, forced a scrum after excellent work from Tadhg Beirne on the deck which was followed by an excellent scrum penalty and fine work from debutant Michael Milne. The ball was kicked to the corner but unfortunately for Munster the throw was not deemed to be straight and Cardiff exited after a scrum was quickly followed by a Munster offside.
Munster conceded two further consecutive penalties which ultimately led to a dangerous looking lineout maul but strong defence from Munster saw the ball held up over the line.
From the replays, the Cardiff ball carrier had a foot in touch so Munster resumed play with a lineout close to their own line. The throw from Scannell was adjudged to be crooked which allowed the hosts possession close to the Munster line.
As Munster defended, Fineen Wycherley was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on in the tackle but thankfully, Cardiff soon knocked the ball on as Munster escaped without conceding any points.
Cardiff did get their first try a few minutes later through Gabe Hamer-Webb with Callum Sheedy’s conversion drifting wide as Munster approached the half-hour mark with a 5-7 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Munster as a clearing kick from Cardiff was not dealt with which allowed Taulupe Faletau to break downfield before offloading to Harri Millard for their second try. Sheedy was on target with the conversion as Cardiff took a 12-7 lead.
Munster responded well with a period of possession in the Cardiff half which ultimately led to a penalty concession from Cardiff for not rolling away from the ruck. Crowley kicked the ball into the corner with the visitors having a great chance to get a crucial score before half-time.
The maul went forward but was close to going into touch so Casey sent the ball out wide. The ball went through the hands where Mike Haley carried hard to crash over the line. Crowley’s conversion saw Munster retake the lead at 12-14. Ian Costello’s side had one more chance before the break but an excellent run from Thaakir Abrahams saw the winger tackled into touch.
On the resumption of the second half, Tadhg Beirne was penalised for offside and the captain produced a superb effort just moments later when he held up a Cardiff player in the tackle to win a scrum turnover during a dangerous looking attack from the hosts.
Munster mixed the bad with the good in the next few minutes with some brilliant turnovers and scrum penalties won by the men in red but this was countered by passes going to ground or intercepted.
Munster came very close to getting a third try. Great work from Coombes, Casey, Milne and Farrell brought play deep into the Cardiff 22. Unfortunately, the move slowed down before the ball went forward off a Munster player.
A high tackle on Casey in the build-up gave Munster a penalty which Crowley drilled into the Cardiff 22. A clever lineout move saw the ball sent over the top to Jack O’Donoghue and from this Munster went wide, quickly. The ball ended up in the hands of Abrahams who was stopped just short of the line and a few phases later, Crowley pulled the ball back to Farrell who glided through a gap to score under the posts. Crowley’s conversion put Munster 12-21 in front.
Cardiff hit back with a penalty try soon after as Jack O’Donoghue was deemed to be in an offside position when holding a Cardiff player up over the line. Munster were reduced to 14 men for the second time in the game with their lead reduced to two points.
During this period, Cardiff got their fourth try through scrum-half Mulder who sniped over from the base of a ruck. Sheedy’s conversion put Cardiff into a five point lead with 15 minutes remaining.
Frustratingly, Cardiff dominated possession and territory in the final 15 minutes before Munster went through a large number of phases with the clock in the red as they made headway into the Cardiff half. Unfortunately for Munster, Cardiff managed to turn the ball over at the ruck and kicked to touch to signal the end of the game.
URC Round 16 Roundup
Michael Milne made his Munster debut.
At the time of writing, Munster are in 7th place in the URC table with 41 points.
Munster Rugby: Mike Haley (Butler 74′); Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell (O’Brien 60′), Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Michael Milne (Donnelly 63′), Niall Scannell (D Barron 51′), John Ryan (Foxe 74′); Fineen Wycherley (Kleyn 60′), Tadhg Beirne (C); Jack O’Donoghue, Alex Kendellen (Quinn 60′), Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Mark Donnelly, Ronan Foxe, Jean Kleyn, Ruadhán Quinn, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Seán O’Brien.
