Cipriani sees red as Gloucester goes down to Munster
CHAMPIONS CUP REPORT: Munster ran in five tries as they defeated Gloucester 36-22 in a thrilling Champions Cup Pool Two clash at Thomond Park.
Tom Savage was sent to the sin bin for foul play in the early stages and the Irish province took full advantage of the extra man as Tadhg Beirne launched a move with a powerful run, breaking a couple of Gloucester tackles.
Play was then spread wide through the hands and found Mike Haley who dotted down in the corner, but Joey Carbery – who won Man of the Match – pushed his conversion wide.
Danny Cipriani kicked a penalty to cut the Munster lead but was sent off minutes later for foul play. Carbery punished the misdemeanour and slotted the resulting penalty through the posts.
Danny Cipriani has been sent off 🔴
He knew straight away he was going to be shown red for this tackle.
He apologised on his way off but his week has gone from bad to worse… pic.twitter.com/XGga2MHz2P
— Watch the Heineken Champions Cup on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) October 20, 2018
A brilliant driving maul from Munster just before half-time allowed Rhys Marshall to dive over for the second try of the afternoon, with the extra man helping the Irish province seize control of this match.
At the start of the second half, Darren Sweetnam found Joey Carbery who jinked between two Gloucester men and dived over at the posts for a third try.
Sam Arnold then brought up the bonus-point try for Munster after some superb running rugby but Gerbrandt Grobler hit back seconds later for Gloucester with a powerful drive over the line.
Carbery then set up the final Munster try for Andrew Conway with another beautiful pass, giving the latter the simple task of dotting down at the posts.
Two late tries from Gloucester’s Jason Woodward and Ben Morgan and two yellow cards for Munster gave the visitors a chance to secure two bonus points but they turned over and Munster kicked the ball dead to claim all five points.
The Irish province host Castres Olympique in Round Three while Gloucester travel to face Exeter Chiefs.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Haley, Marshall, Carbery, Arnold, Conway
Cons: Carbery 4
Pen: Carbery
For Gloucester:
Tries: Grobler, Woodward, Morgan
Cons: Twelvetrees 2
Pen: Cipriani
Red card: Danny Cipriani (Gloucester, 28 – foul play)
Yellow cards: Tom Savage (Gloucester, 16 – foul play); Sam Arnold (Munster, 77); Stephen Archer (Munster, 79)
Teams:
Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 James Cronin.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Sammy Arnold.
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Tom Marshall, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Ed Slater (captain), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 Franco Marais, 1 Josh Hohneck.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Tom Hudson
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
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