Leinster's late rally downs Munster in Irish arm-wrestle
MATCH REPORT: Leinster claimed a 27-13 victory over Munster in a hard-fought United Rugby Championship Irish derby in Dublin on Saturday.
Two tries in the final quarter – after Leinster held a one-point lead, 7-6 at half-time and 14-13 on the hour mark – saw the home team edge clear.
Joey Carbery kicked two first-half penalties either side of Scott Penny’s 27th-minute try.
The visitors put sin-binnings for Keynan Knox and Jean Kleyn behind them with a well-worked score from Liam Coombes.
Crucially, Dan Sheehan was quick to respond for Leinster in the 49th minute and, from then on, it was a smart wet-weather game that took the tournament leaders clear.
Captain Johnny Sexton and Player of the Match Luke McGrath seized control, the latter crossing from a close-in maul. The final flourish put Russell over in the left corner.
Leinster, who were often guilty of misfiring in the opposition’s 22, were held scoreless despite a dominant start. Jason Jenkins was held up early on and Sexton put a penalty wide.
Having missed a longer effort just moments earlier, Carbery kicked a territory-starved Munster ahead in the 21st minute.
However, prop Knox’s forearm soon made contact with James Ryan’s head for a yellow card. Penny duly burrowed in under the posts for Sexton to convert.
Jack Crowley and Tom Ahern increased their influence for Munster in broken play, the momentum leading to a second Carbery penalty.
A resilient Munster ended the opening half with Kleyn in the bin for taking out Jamie Osborne after a kick, but skipper Jack O’Donoghue held up Sheehan from a maul.
Roaring back in attack, Gavin Coombes’ looping pass sent his cousin Liam over after O’Donoghue’s kick chase had forced an error from Jimmy O’Brien.
Although a brilliant Carbery conversion gave Munster a six-point buffer, Sheehan replied with his sixth try of the season. He dummied through to score from a line-out drive.
Sexton’s drilled conversion restored Leinster’s lead, and the 37-year-old playmaker landed a 56th-minute penalty to leave it 17-13.
McGrath then stole a march on Dave Kilcoyne and Ben Healy to add the third try. Some prolonged Munster pressure failed to produce a score, and the pacy Russell sealed the bonus point with less than three minutes to go.
Player of the Match
O’Donoghue led by example for Munster, who also had big shifts from Jeremy Loughman, particularly at scrum time, Diarmuid Barron and Crowley. Try-scoring scrum half McGrath deservedly scooped the individual honour. Also impressive for Leinster were Caelan Doris and Andrew Porter, who brought plenty of impact off the bench.
Play of the match
Leinster had left a number of try-scoring chances behind them in the first half, the best of them seeing Cian Healy put too much on a pass to Osborne who knocked on. They saved the best for last, Garry Ringrose superb as he passed out of a double tackle and Doris released Russell to slide over in the left corner. Ross Byrne’s conversion came back off the near post.
The scorers
For Leinster
Tries: Penny, Sheehan, McGrath, Russell
Cons: Sexton 2
Pen: Sexton
For Munster
Try: Coombes
Con: Carbery
Pens: Carbery 2
Yellow cards: Keynan Knox (Munster, 26), Jean Kleyn (Munster, 38)
Teams
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose (captain), 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Jamie Osbourne, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rob Russell.
Munster: 15 Jack Crowley, 14 Shane Daly, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Liam Coombes, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue (captain), 5 Tom Ahern, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Keynan Knox, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Jeremy Loughman.
Replacements: 16 Scott Buckley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 James French, 19 Jack O’Sullivan, 20 Ruadhan Quinn, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Patrick Campbell.
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Oisin Quinn (Ireland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
