Munster 21
Stormers 27
Kevin Fallon reports from Thomond Park
MUNSTER FELL TO their first defeat of the season after surrendering a 15-point interval lead at Thomond Park in this top-of-the-table clash.
Clayton McMillan suffered his first defeat since taking charge of Munster when they failed to score in the second half of a game where the Stormers — minus several Springboks — were on top in the scrum and got a huge dividend when they introduced half a dozen replacements five minutes after the restart.
Munster led 21-6 at the end of the opening half where they made the most of the Stormers having two men binned in the opening half.
A break from Diarmuid Kilgallen led to a yellow card for Stormers lock Connor Evans after three minutes when he pulled back Tom Ahern off the ball with the visitors’ defence pierced.
Jack Crowley missed the penalty from 30 metres and Munster fell behind when Jurie Matthee kicked a 50-metre penalty after Fineen Wycherley was harshly pinged in a ruck.
But Munster responded with a try off a lineout when Gavin Coombes set up Tadhg Beirne and the skipper scored his 17th try for the province when he dummied a return pass to score beside the posts after eight minutes.
Stormers, who went into the match having won 23 scrum penalties this season, got on top in the set-piece and by the break, their four scrums resulted in three penalties and a free-kick.
Matthee reduced the margin to 7-6 with the first of the scrum penalties but Munster, who lost flanker Jack O’Donoghue to a HIA after 10 minutes, hit back. After hooker Diarmuid Barron knocked on in the tackle just short of the line, they extended their lead when Stormers flanker Marcel Theunissen was binned for offside after a barrage of attacks.
Munster’s second try came from a tapped penalty, with Craig Casey feeding Coombes who sent replacement John Hodnett in under the posts after 20 minutes. Crowley’s conversion made it 14-6.
Munster’s only scrum in the opening half yielded a try, with Tom Farrell breaking from deep after an inside pass. Crowley supplied the finish before adding the conversion to make it 21-6 after 29 minutes.
It remained that way until the break after Ahern stole a Stormers five-metre lineout in the final play of a half where Munster enjoyed 64% possession.
The Stormers introduced a bomb squad of half a dozen players at the same time five minutes after the restart and it looked to have paid an immediate dividend when one of them, Adré Smith, scored off a lineout — but it was scratched on review when another replacement, Oli Kebble, was guilty of being in front of the man in possession.
But it was clear as the third quarter progressed that the Stormers had gotten a foothold and they reduced the margin after 58 minutes when Smith got through to score after sustained pressure. Coombes was binned for a trip in the build-up to a move which started with the Cape Town side winning another penalty on a Munster scrum put-in.
Matthee’s conversion cut the gap to 21-13 going into the final quarter, with Munster’s emptying of the bench including the introduction of Edwin Edogbo in the second row after his absence from a concussion picked up in the win over Leinster last month.
The South Africans struck again just before Coombes returned from the bin. A cheap offside penalty conceded from a Stormers lineout five metres from their own line led to a counter which finished with Matthee’s brilliant crosskick being taken by right winger Dylan Maart to collect and score, with the conversion cutting the margin to 21-20 going into the final ten minutes.
Disaster then struck for Munster when they won their own scrum but a wraparound pass from Crowley was intercepted by centre Ruhan Nel, who raced from inside his own half to score under the posts, with Matthee’s conversion making it 27-21 eight minutes from time.
A sublime chipped crosskick from Casey then put in new Irish international Tom Farrell to score down the right — with Crowley landing the difficult conversion for the lead — only for it to be whistled back and disallowed after a knock-on by the out-half in the build-up was spotted on review.
A penalty advantage was being played during that build-up, but while Munster won the lineout after going to the corner, they were unable to find a way through, with replacement centre Dan Kelly knocking on.
A scrum reset was followed by a penalty to the Stormers and they duly cleared their lines to maintain their winning start to the URC and inflict a first defeat on Clayton McMillan’s reign in Munster.
Scorers for Munster: Tries: T Beirne, J Hodnett, J Crowley. Cons: J Crowley (3).
Scorers for Stormers: Tries: A Smith, D Maart, R Nel. Pens: J Matthee (2). Cons: Matthee (3).
Munster: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell (Dan Kelly 61), Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman (Michael Milne 54), Diarmuid Barron (Niall Scannell 54), John Ryan (Ronan Foxe 61); Tom Ahern, Fineen Wycherley (Edwin Edogbo 59); Tadhg Beirne (c), Jack O’Donoghue (John Hodnett 10), Gavin Coombes.
Stormers: Warrick Gelant; Dylan Maart, Wandisile Simelane, Ruhan Nel, Leolin Zas; Jurie Matthee, Stefan Ungerer (Dewaldt Duvenage 60); Vernon Matongo (Oli Kebble 45), André-Hugo Venter (JJ Kotzé 45), Neethling Fouché (Sazi Sandi 45); Salmaan Moerat (c) (Adré Smith 45), Connor Evans (JD Schickerling 45); Paul de Villiers, Marcel Theunissen (Ruan Ackermann 45), Evan Roos.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Written by Kevin Fallon and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
