Carbery stars as Munster down Gloucester
CHAMPIONS CUP REPORT: Ireland flyhalf Joey Carbery’s impressive performance guided Munster to a comfortable 41-15 bonus-point win over Gloucester at the Kingsholm Stadium.
The former Leinster flyhalf scored a brace of tries and kicked a further 16 points to hand Johann Van Graan’s side the win over Johan Ackermann’s Gloucester.
The visitors were penalised early on inside their own half, giving Gloucester a kickable penalty that Billy Twelvetrees would have no problem slotting between the sticks.
Lewis Ludlow then strayed offside when Munster were driving inside the Gloucester 22, giving Carbery a simple penalty kick to level the scores and they would go further in front minutes later.
Munster piled on the pressure after a string of phases, with Conor Murray eventually finding his halfback partner Carbery for the first try of the evening at the posts. The try-scorer duly converted his score.
Seconds later, Munster won another penalty in kicking range and that man Carbery again was able to drill the ball between the sticks in what was a near-perfect display.
With the clock deep in the red at the end of the first half and over 25 phases played, Munster secured a second try. It was a continuous wave of blue heading towards the Gloucester line and Rory Scannell eventually bounced off his man and dived over for a crucial score.
Munster came out in similar form at the start of the second half but it was Gloucester that grabbed the first points of the second period.
Over 35 phases from the forwards allowed Danny Cipriani to spread the ball wide, reaching Ollie Thorley who sprinted to the corner for the first Gloucester try, that wasn’t converted by Twelvetrees who hit the post.
That was as good as it got for Gloucester – despite a Fraser Balmain consolation try – who were overwhelmed for the remainder of the second half.
A Billy Holland offload allowed Keith Earls the chance to dot down at the corner, while Carbery would then set up a try for Andrew Conway and score one of his own after a delightful intercept inside his own half, bringing up the crucial bonus point.
Munster – who sit top of Pool 2 with 17 points – host Exeter Chiefs in Round 6 while Gloucester will travel to face Castres Olympique.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Thorley, Balmain
Con: Twelvetrees
Pen: Twelvetrees
For Munster:
Tries: Carbery 2, Scannell, Earls, Conway
Cons: Carberry 5
Pens: Carberry 2
Gloucester: 15 Tom Hudson, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan (captain), 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Franco Mostert, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Josh Hohneck.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Henry Trinder.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Christiaan Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 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 Jeremy Loughman, 18 John Ryan, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Dan Goggin.
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon (France), Stephane Boyer (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)
