Munster drop for dramatic win
Comments
0
Ian Keatley's last-gasp drop-goal saw Munster snatch a 27-26 win at Sale Sharks on Saturday in the European Champions Cup.
The two-times champions were staring at a shock opening defeat in pool A at the AJ Bell Stadium when they trailed 23-7 at half-time to a Danny Cipriani-inspired Sale.
But tries from wing Andrew Conway and scrumhalf Conor Murray set up a pulsating finish which enabled flyhalf Keatley to rescue his side with his last-gasp kick, his fifth goal of the game, and earn a 27-26 victory in the first match of the so-called group of death, with Saracens and Clement Auvergne to come.
The Sharks brought in 20-year-old Mike Haley at fullback for his first appearance of the season in place of the injured Luke McLean and he was prominent early on as the home side settled quickly.
Later on in the day, David Strettle and Chris Ashton scored two tries apiece as Saracens claimed a bonus-point 30-23 win over Clermont in a thriller at Allianz Park.
The England wings scored a try in each half for Mark McCall's men, as they just edged home.
Zac Guildford went over twice for Clermont, who will feel they missed a great opportunity after dominating large periods of the game.
But in the end Saracens' clinical finishing proved the difference between the two sides before they travel to Munster next weekend.
At the same time, Mark Bennett scored two tries as Glasgow Warriors cruised to a bonus-point 37-10 over Bath in Pool four.
Bath made the quicker start with a Jonathan Joseph try, but that was as good as it got for the visitors.
From then on, Glasgow took complete control, running in five tries in total as they lay down a marker ahead of a trip to Montpellier.
Following that, Marc Andreu's late try denied Northampton a bonus point in a 20-11 win that was marred by inconsistent officiating.
Alexandre Dumoulin's try gave Racing an early lead, before Phil Dowson's effort in the last five minutes gave Northampton the chance of earning a draw.
But after Stephen Myler missed the conversion that would have levelled matters, Andreu punished a Saints side chasing the win with a late poacher's try.
However it was referee George Clancy who took centre stage, with both sides left baffled by his decisions in the scrum, as well as his failure to take more serious action over a potential gouge from Salesi Ma'afu.
Finally on Saturday, Leicester were forced to hold off a ferocious Ulster fightback on their way to a 25-18 Champions Cup win at Welford Road.
A trio of tries from Freddie Burns, Graham Kitchener and centre Owen Williams helped a muscular Leicester side overcome a disappointing Ulster performance.
Two of those were converted by Burns and Williams respectively, but the final score doesn't really do justice to the extent of the Tigers' dominance.
Ulster mounted a second-half comeback with good tries from Tommy Bowe and Franco Van der Merwe, but in the final analysis it was a case of too little too late for the Irishmen, although it earned them a losing bonus point.
All Saturday's scores and scorers!
Sale Sharks 26-27 Munster
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Lund, Leota
Cons: Cipriani 2
Pens: Cipriani 4
For Munster:
Tries: Kilcoyne, Conway, Murray
Cons: Keatley 3
Pen: Keatley
DG: Keatley
Teams
Sale Sharks: 15 Michael Haley, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Mark Easter 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Jon Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Alberto de Marchi, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Josh Beaumont, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.
Munster: Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony (c), 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Dave Foley, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 James Cronin, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Gerhard van den Heever.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Assistant Referees: Laurent Cardona, Thomas Déjean
TMO: Bruno Bessot
Saracens 30-23 Clermont
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Ashton 2, Strettle 2
Cons: Hodgson 2
Pens: Hodgson 2
For Clermont:
Tries: Guildford 2
Cons: Lopez 2
Pens: Lopez 3
Teams:
For Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Chris Wyles, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola 7 Will Fraser, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 James Johnston, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Marcelo Bosch.
For Clermont: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Ludovic Radosavljevic, 8 Damien Chouly (captain), 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Fritz Lee, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Raphael Chaume, 18 Clement Ric, 19 Loïc Jacquet, 20 Julien Bardy, 21 Thierry Lacrampe, 22 Brock James, 23 Benson Stanley.
Referee: John Lacey
Assistant Referees: Leo Colgan, Eddie Hogan-O'Connell
TMO: Marshall Kilgore
Glasgow 37-10 Bath
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Bennett 2, Maitland, Seymour, Matawalu
Cons: Weir 3
Pens: Weir 2
For Bath:
Try: Joseph
Con: Ford
Pen: Ford
Teams:
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Henry Pyrgos (captain), 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Leone Nakarawa, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Tyrone Holmes, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Finn Russell, 23 DTH van der Merwe.
Bath: 15 Gavin Henson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Anthony Watson; 10 George Ford, 9 Micky Young, 8 David Sisi, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Dominic Day, 5 David Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nick Auterac.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Paul James, 18 David Wilson, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Horacio Agulla
Referee: Jérôme Garcès
Assistant Referees: Patrick Pechambert, Thomas Charabas
TMO: Jean-Marie Piraveau
Racing Metro 20-11 Northampton
The scorers:
For Racing Métro:
Tries: Dumoulin, Andreu
Cons: Sexton, Goosen
Pens: Sexton 2
For Northampton:
Try: Dowson
Pens: Myler 2
Teams:
For Racing Métro: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Juan Imhoff, 13 Alexandre Dumoulin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Antoine Claassen, 7 Bernard le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Francois van der Merwe (captain), 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Luc Ducalcon, 2 Virgile Lacombe, 1 Julien Brugnaut.
Replacements: 16 Jeremie Maurouard, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Camille Gerondeau, 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Yoan Audrin.
For Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 James Craig, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 James Wilson, 23 Jamie Elliott.
Referee: George Clancy
Assistant Referees: Gary Conway, Mark Patton
TMO: Kevin Beggs
Leicester 25-18 Ulster
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Williams, Kitchener, Burns
Cons: Burns, Williams
Pens: Williams 3
For Ulster:
Tries: Bowe, Van der Merwe
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson 2
Teams:
For Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 David Mélé, 22 Sam Harrison, 23 Miles Benjamin.
For Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Andy Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Callum Black, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Clive Ross, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Stuart Olding, 23 Darren Cave.
Referee: Romain Poite
Assistant Referees: Christophe Berdos, Stéphane Boyer
TMO: Bernard Dal Maso
ADVERTISEMENT
