Munster & Exeter in 20-point Stalemate
CHAMPIONS CUP REPORT: Exeter Chiefs and Munster Rugby’s Pool 2 match finished in a 10-all draw, after a thrilling contest between the two sides at Sandy Park.
It was a frantic 80 minutes in Devon with very little between the teams, with flyhalves Gareth Steenson and Joey Carbery trading penalities early on in the first-half.
Munster were relentless in their attack but struggled to get through Exeter’s resolute defence and it was the Chiefs who struck the first blow.
Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie drived over just before half-time with Steenson adding the extras and the West Country side went into the break leading 10-3.
The Irish province started well in the second 40 minutes but could not find the final pass and scrumhalf Duncan Williams denied Exeter a second after a fantastic try-saving tackle with 20 minutes remaining.
Munster’s pressure finally paid off with No.8 CJ Stander powering over the line from five metres out and with Carbery’s conversion, levelled the scores.
There were 345 tackles made during the game and Munster’s lock Tadgh Beirne was named Man of the Match for his impressive defensive performance.
The scorers:
For Exeter Chiefs:
Try: Cowan-Dickie
Con: Steenson
Pen: Steenson
For Munster:
Try: O’Mahony
Con: Carbery
Pen: Carbery
The teams:
Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 James Cronin, 18 John Ryan, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Sammy Arnold
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Ludovic Cayre (France), Jonathan Dufort (France)
TMO: Éric Briquet-Campin (France)
