Murray hat-trick secures home semi

 

It was an explosive start to the game as Munster went in all guns blazing in their relentless search for the bonus point.

 

Andrew Smith set them on their way before Ashton Hewitt responded but a CJ Stander special and a double from Conor Murray meant the Irish side had four tries with just 23 minutes gone.

 

Paul O'Connell, Keith Earls and Ronan O'Mahony grabbed second-half tries with Murray wrapping up his hat-trick and Tyler Morgan, Jack Dixon and Rhys Buckley all getting consolatory scores for Newport who finish the season in ninth.

 

Munster went into the game having only lost once to the Dragons on home soil but they got off to shaky start, giving a penalty away with just a few minutes on the clock for holding on.

 

Jason Tovey took advantage to put the Dragons 3-0 to the good early on with Munster clearly disappointed to give away the points.

 

But the Irish province settled down and responded quickly with the first try of the match when Smith broke free to go over.

 

Keatley added the extras but Munster's lead didn't last more than a few minutes as Hewitt, a late replacement after Hallam Amos failed a late fitness test, went over for his side's first try.

 

Tovey's conversion meant the game quickly swung back in back in Newport's favour with the Welsh side taking a 10-7 lead after just 8 minutes.

 

But just a few breathless moments later the Munstermen were back in front, this time Stander driving over off the back of the maul before two points from Keatley's boot gave his side a 14-10 lead.

 

And this time the Irish side seemed determined to preserve their lead, with Murray emerging from the base of the ruck for the score before Keatley added the extras again to extend their lead to 21-10.

 

With the Dragons down to 14 men after Hugh Gustafson was yellow carded Munster wrapped up that much-needed bonus point, Murray grabbing his second try of the game and Munster's fourth after just 23 minutes.

 

And after an unprecedented period of play without a try being scored O'Connell came to the fore, breaking free from the maul to make the score 33-10 going into the break in Cork.

 

And Munster immediately picked up where they left off after half-time, Earls finishing off a sweeping move after gathering in Felix Jones' pass to score the Irish side's sixth try of the game.

 

Keatley made no mistake with the conversion, his fifth of the game, to extend Munster's lead to 40-10.

 

But Newport refused to back down, retaining the ball from the scrum and attacking Munster's 22 with Morgan driving over the line for the try.

 

That was a minor blip for Munster though as Murray soon secured his hat-trick, picking the ball up again from the back of the maul and sneaking through to make it 45-17.

 

The Munstermen did tire late on and Buckley was on hand to take advantage for the Dragons but O'Mahony responded with his side's eighth try of the match.

 

Jack Dixon had the last say with a try on the final whistle but the match was well beyond the Dragons by then, the action-packed match finishing 50-27. 

 

 

Tries: O'Connell, Earls, Keatley, Murray 3, O'Mahony, Stander, Smith

Cons: Keatley 5

 

Tries: Dixon, Buckley, Hewitt, Morgan

Cons: Tovey 2

Pen: Tovey

 

Yellow Cards: Hugh Gustafson (Dragons, 19), Paddy Butler (Munster, 56)

 

 

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Denis Hurley (captain), 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Paddy Butler, 6 Donnacha Ryan , 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Billy Holland, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 John Ryan.

Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Sean Dougall, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Andrew Conway.

 

Dragons: 15 Jason Tovey, 14  Tom Prydie, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7  Nic Cudd, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4  Cory Hill, 3 Brok Harris, 2 T. Hugh Gustafson, 1 Boris Stankovich.

Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Richie Rees, 22  Ashton Hewitt, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.

 

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Scotland)

Assistant Referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Sean Gallagher (Ireland)

TMO: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)

 

Source: @PRO12rugby