Keatley steers Munster to victory

Munster secured their first league double over Leinster in six years, scoring three tries in a one-sided Pro12 victory at Thomond Park.

Tries from CJ Stander, Andrew Conway and Dave O'Callaghan and a near-impeccable kicking performance from Ian Keatley secured the points for the home side, who never looked like losing this game despite a brief flurry from the visitors in the final few minutes that saw skipper Shane Jennings dive over the line.

The early exchanges were dominated by the home side, who got off to the perfect start after two minutes when Keatley slotted a penalty from the left to put them 3-0 up.

But despite dominating possession and territory Munster, found themselves pegged back four minutes later when Leinster flyhalf Ian Madigan replied in kind from just outside the Munster 22 to square things up.

Munster remained patient and the first try of the afternoon arrived when Denis Hurley ran a great line to put pressure on the Leinster defence and Munster attacked the short side with numbers, Stander crashing over from close in for his fourth try of the season, minus his shirt, which was lost in the build-up. Keatley couldn't add the extras, however, and the score remained 8-3.

If the derby-day atmosphere was bringing the best out of Munster the same couldn't be said of Leinster, poor handling giving Keatley and Felix Jones the chance to lead a searing break that took Munster nearly all the way to the Leinster line before they coughed up a penalty.

After that Leinster seemed to wake up, with phase after phase of attack leading to Keatley giving up a soft penalty for going offside. Madigan wasted no time in slotting the resulting spot kick to reduce the deficit to two points.

But just when Leinster looked to be getting on the front foot Jordi Murphy, on for the injured Dominic Ryan, was pinged in front of the posts for not rolling away to gift Keatley another shot at the sticks, which he knocked over with little difficulty and the score was 11-6.

Munster replacement Paddy Butler was then perhaps a little unlucky to be penalised by referee Nigel Owens for not releasing after being tackled but the previously accurate Madigan scuffed his penalty to the left of the posts.

The home side made a great start to the secondhalf when Conway ran a brilliant line to touch down leaving three tacklers in his wake after a multi-phase Munster attack, Keatley successful with his conversion.

Leinster were losing the battle up front and seemed unable to string any passing moves together, and their job was made even more difficult when wing Darragh Fanning came round the side of the ruck and dived on the ball, earning a yellow card for his troubles. Keatley added the penalty from wide out on the left and Leinster looked out of ideas.

Munster were unlucky not to go further ahead when Butler made a great break down the centre of the park and chipped the ball wide only to see it bounce into touch inches from the supporting runners.

With the game entering the final quarter a Keatley penalty from near halfway fell short of the posts, before O'Callaghan dived over the line with the Leinster defence in tatters, Keatley adding to his personal haul with another two points.

The introduction of Jimmy Gopperth gave Leinster some impetus late on, however, and after a series of attacks a lovely offload from Jack Conan set up Shane Jennings for an easy try, Madigan adding the extras.

But despite threatening the Munster line again in the dying seconds they were unable to add to their score.

*Elsewhere, Tyler Morgan's firsthalf try proved the perfect platform as Newport Dragons held on to claim local bragging rights in the despite a late Cardiff Blues onslaught.

*Ulster claimed victory over Connacht by the tightest of margins, to extend their unbeaten run at the Kingspan Stadium this season and their excellent record against the visitors.

All Friday's scores and scorers!

Cardiff Blues 17-23 Newport Dragons

For Cardiff:

Tries: Hoeata, Knoyle

Cons: Anscombe 2

Pen: Davies

For Newport:

Tries: Dee, Penalty try

Cons: Prydie 2

Pens: Prydie 3

Cardiff Blues: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Lucas Amorosino, 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees (captain), 1 Sam Hobbs.

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Taufa'ao Filise, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Adam Thomas.

Dragons: 15 Tom Prydie, 14 Matthew Pewtner, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 James Thomas, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Brok Harris, 2 T. Rhys Thomas, 1 Phil Price.

Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Dan Way, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Ian Gough, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.

Referee: Leighton Hodges

Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas, Craig Evans

TMO: Gareth Simmonds

Munster 28-13 Leinster

For Munster:

Tries: Stander, Conway, O'Callaghan

Cons: Keatley 2

Pens: Keatley 3

For Leinster:

Try: Jennings

Con: Madigan

Pens: Madigan 2

Yellow card: Darragh Fanning (Leinster, 53)

Munster: 15 Felix Jones (captain), 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 John Ryan.

Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Eusebio Guiñazú, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Dave O'Callaghan, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Johne Murphy.

Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Darragh Fanning, 13 Luke Fitzgerald, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Shane Jennings (captain), 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Michael Bent.

Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Maks Van Dyk, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Noel Reid.

Referee: Nigel Owens

Assistant referees: Mark Patton, Stuart Gaffikin

TMO: Simon McDowell

Ulster 13-10 Connacht

For Ulster:

Try: Gilroy

Con: Jackson

Pens: Jackson 2

For Connacht:

Try: Muldowney

Con: Carty

Pen: Carty

Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Peter Nelson, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Roger Wilson (captain), 7 Clive Ross, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Wiahahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Stuart Olding.

Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 John Cooney, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Ronan Loughney.

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Mils Muliaina.

Referee: John Lacey

Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips, Nigel Correll

TMO: Brian McNeice