Davies boots Ospreys to victory
The Irish province have an impressive record at the Cork venue and they began well, with Duncan Williams opening the scoring with the first try. Sam Davies hit back before Francis Saili and Robin Copeland crossed over either side of the break to put the hosts in charge.
However, Owen Watkin climbed off the bench to pull a try back and the boot of flyhalf Davies saw them over the line, moving the Ospreys to within three points of the top six.
Munster went ahead with 10 minutes on the clock after probing deep into Ospreys territory when Ian Keatley found a good touch, Williams showed great initiative to charge down a clearance kick and run in the try.
Flyhalf Keatley added the extras but wing Darren Sweetnam soon had to be alert at the other end, his try-saving tackle denying Tom Grabham a score, much to the delight of the home support. Ospreys eventually got their try on 25 minutes as Davies picked a gap in the home defence to dart over the line before adding the extras himself.
However, Saili struck back almost instantly with his first Munster try, the outside centre showing great feet to dart around the Ospreys defence and find a way through – though Keatley's conversion bounced back off the upright.
Davies hit back before the break with three points from the tee, after Munster were penalised for not rolling away, and the hosts went into the break with a 12-10 lead. With the temperature dropping early in the second half and the rain getting heavier, Munster were first to strike through Copeland.
Sweetnam made the initial break before offloading to the No.8 to crash over near the corner flag, though Keatley once again saw the resulting kick miss the target.
Davies struck his second penalty 15 minutes into the half to bring Ospreys back to within four points of their hosts and a deliberate knock-on soon presented him with the chance to make that one, only to strike the crossbar.
But two minutes later the Ospreys' pressure paid off, replacement Watkin crashing over in the corner before Davies missed a second straight shot at the posts. Davies came within inches of grabbing his second try, only to be held just short, but he slotted over another penalty to afford them some breathing space.
That proved to be the last points of the game as the Ospreys held on for an important four points.
Scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Williams, Saili, Copeland
Con: Keatley
For Ospreys:
Tries: Davies, Watkin
Con: Davies
Pens: Davies 3
Teams:
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Jack O'Donoghue, 7 Dave O'Callaghan, 6 Billy Holland (captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Dave Foley, 3 John Ryan, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Robin Copeland, 20 Shane Buckley, 21 Tomás O'Leary, 22 Cian Bohane, 23 David Johnston.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Tom Grabham, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Ben John, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Brendon Leonard (captain), 8 Dan Baker, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Rynier Bernardo, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Ma'afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Owen Watkin, 23 Tom Habberfield.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
