Glasgow Warriors' second-half show floors Munster

WRAP: Glasgow Warriors opened their United Rugby Championship season with a narrow 26-20 win over Munster at Thomond Park.

Munster produced an excellent start to the game and with four minutes on the clock, Clayton McMillan’s side won a penalty under the posts which JJ Hanrahan kicked to put Munster 3-0 in front.

Munster continued their positive play with a break up the wing from Ben O’Connor before the promising move was pulled back for a crossing from Munster.

However with nine minutes on the clock, Glasgow received a yellow card for a deliberate knock on when Ollie Smith stopped a pass from Alex Nankivell to the wing.

With Glasgow down to 14 men, Munster kicked to the corner but a brilliant opportunity went awry as the ball went over the top of the lineout with no one getting in the air from Munster.

With 15 minutes on the clock, Munster got their deserved try when Hanrahan produced a sublime 50:22 to give the home side a great lineout setpiece attacking opportunity.

From the lineout, Munster spread the ball into midfield where Seán O’Brien brought play to the line before pulling a pass out the back which saw Mike Haley float a pass out to Ben O’Connor to score. Hanrahan nailed the touchline conversion to give Munster a 10-0 lead.

Munster continued to play on the front foot but after an attacking move went to ground, Glasgow counterattacked down the East Stand touchline only for Jack O’Donoghue to sprint back and make a good covering tackle which forced a turnover.

Another brave defensive effort soon followed when Nankivell took a bang before getting back to his feet and making a try-saving tackle despite needing to receive treatment. Moments later, good defensive work from Gavin Coombes saw Munster hold up Glasgow just before the line to give Munster a chance to clear.

With the game being played in Munster’s 22 for a considerable amount of time, it looked inevitable that Glasgow were going to score and the Scottish side ensured that when Jamie Dobbie crossed over after a powerful rolling maul from the visitors. Dan Lancaster converted to put three points between the sides.

Munster responded well as a big effort from the pack saw the home side win a turnover. From the resulting lineout which was kicked to the corner, Munster’s maul just dropped short of the line before Michael Milne powered over with a close-range carry. Hanrahan knocked over a tough conversion to give Munster a 17-7 lead at half-time.

Munster were on the defence at the start of the second half and a good set went unrewarded as the referee decided that a knock on from the Scots went backwards. Despite this, Munster put in another good defensive set close to their own line which forced a knock on.

Similar to the first half, this long period of pressure from Glasgow eventually told when Nathan McBeth crashed over from close range. George Horne converted to reduce Munster’s lead to just three points.

A huge Munster attacking set in Glasgow’s 22 eventually yielded a penalty for the home side and Hanrahan knocked it over to put Munster’s lead at 20-14 at the midway point of the second half.

Glasgow got another try on the 68th minute when the visitors found space on the edge which ultimately led to George Horne crossing from the base of the ruck. Horne converted to put Glasgow 20-21 in front.

Unfortunately for Munster, Jamie Dobie crossed for a try towards the end of the game which secured the win for the Scottish side.

See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!

Munster 20-26 Glasgow Warriors

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: O’Connor, Milne
Cons: Hanrahan 2
Pens: Hanrahan 2

For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Dobie 2, McBeth, Horne
Cons: Horne

Teams:

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13 Alex Nankivell, 12 Seán O’Brien, 11 Ben O’Connor, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Ben O’Donovan, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Diarmuid Barron (captain), 1 Michael Milne,
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Brian Gleeson, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Jake O’Riordan, 22 Charlie O’Shea, 23 Dan Kelly

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Stafford McDowall (captain), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Dan Lancaster, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Ally Miller, 5 Max Williamson, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Patrick Schickerling
Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Angus Fraser, 21 Macenzzie Duncan, 22 Callum Reidy, 23 Bayley Kuenzle

Referee: Morné Ferreira (SARU, 24th league game)
Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson (IRFU) and Padraic Reidy (IRFU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

Scarlets 15-21 Cardiff

The scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: Roberts, Murray
Con: Anscombe
Pen: Hawkins

For Cardiff:
Tries: D Thomas, Basham, E Lloyd
Cons: Sheedy 2, Evans

Scarlets: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Eddie James, 11 Macs Page, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Osian Williams, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Sam Lousi, 5 Will Evans, 4 Harvey Cuckson, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ryan Elias, 1Sam O’Connor.

Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Josh Morse, 18 Gabe Hawley, 19 Alex Groves, 20 Tristan Davies, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Ioan Jones

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Jacob Beetham, 13 Le Roux Malan, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Mason Grady, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Johan Mulder, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Liam Belcher (captain), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Rhys Barratt, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 James Botham, 21 Ellis Bevan, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Harri Millard

Referee: Adam Jones (WRU, 51st league game)
Assistant referees: Carwyn Sion (WRU) and Lloyd Edwards (WRU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)