Connacht grinds down Munster at a soaking wet Sportsground

MATCH REPORT: JJ Hanrahan’s right boot ensured Connacht ended a run of five defeats in all competitions as injury-ravaged Munster went down 9-22 at the Sportsground.

The unrelenting rain made for a dour United Rugby Championship derby, with Munster leading 6-3 at half-time after Tony Butler’s brace of penalties.

Connacht, who had Byron Ralston sin-binned just before the break, had the better of the second half despite Butler briefly giving Munster a 9-6 advantage.

Adding to his opening 16th-minute kick, a wind-backed Hanrahan fired over four more penalties before converting replacement Jack Aungier’s clinching 77th-minute try.

Held try-less for the second game running, first-half injuries for Oli Jager and Jack O’Donoghue added to Munster’s mid-season woes.

Having missed out on an early try due to Gavin Coombes’ knee touching the end-line, the visitors suffered another setback when prop Jager was stretched off following a double tackle.

Connacht also lost the services of Cathal Forde, with Jack Carty slotting in at flyhalf and Hanrahan, who opened the scoring from the Munster 22-metre line, moving to centre.

A Hanrahan fumble, coupled with a sliced Mack Hansen kick, gave Munster the platform to draw level through Butler in the 22nd minute.

A brilliant 50-22 kick from Butler was followed up by a crooked throw from Scott Buckley – Munster’s line-out struggled at key stages – and Connacht absorbed some more pressure after a Carty kick was blocked by Tom Ahern.

Butler’s 31st-minute penalty did edge Munster in front for the first time, but O’Donoghue had to be replaced after his knee was damaged by Ralston’s dangerous entry at a breakdown.

The Connacht wing returned from his sin-binning, nine minutes into the second period, with Hanrahan having kicked the hosts level.

As the rain continued to sheet down, Munster captain Tadhg Beirne increased his influence at the breakdown and Butler split the posts from just inside the opposition 22.

However, Hanrahan made it nine-all when punishing a John Hodnett offside, and with Munster’s John Ryan popping up at a scrum, Connacht moved back in front with 14 minutes remaining.

Hanrahan then landed his best strike of the night, from just inside the Munster half with nine minutes to go, before narrowly missing from halfway.

Skipper Caolin Blade and Hansen both had to go off, but Connacht sealed the result when prop Aungier, supported by Denis Buckley, drove over after the Munster lineout had misfired again.

Player of the Match

Jarrad Butler was impressive throughout for Connacht, but his back-row colleague, Cian Prendergast, got the nod as player-of-the-match for another athletic display. The young Ireland international added to his first-half break with some dogged work at the breakdown and helped to pressurise the Munster lineout.

Play of the Match

This was a forgettable interprovincial encounter, but Connacht did make sure to squeeze in a late try. Jack Carty’s touchfinding kick pinned Munster back inside their own 22 and put more pressure on their already shaky lineout. Scott Buckley was unable to find his jumper, the ball going out the back to Connacht replacement Dylan Tierney-Martin. Possession was retained before Jack Aungier, backed up by Denis Buckley, forced his way over from close range.

The scorers

For Connacht
Try: Aungier
Con: Hanrahan
Pens: Hanrahan 5

Munster
Pens: Butler 3

Yellow card: Byron Ralston (Connachr, 40 – foul play, dangerous clear-out)

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Byron Ralston, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Caolin Blade (captain), 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Oisín Dowling, 21 Michael McDonald, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Conor Oliver

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly, 10 Tony Butler, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 4 Fineen Wycherley, 3 Oli Jager, 2 Eoghan Clarke, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 John Ryan, 19 Jack O’Donoghue, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Seán O’Brien, 23 Shay McCarthy

Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) and Keane Davison (Ireland)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)