Leinster had the bonus point secured by half time in a commanding win
Leinster 26
Munster 12
Munster have lost 26-12 to Leinster in front of a record crowd at Croke Park in Round 4 of the URC Championship.
Munster fans who travelled up to Dublin were left shell-shocked as Leinster scored three tries in the first fifteen minutes to take control of the contest.
Leinster attacked the Munster line early on, and after Ciarán Frawley was stopped short Jamison Gibson-Park found James Lowe in the corner for an easy touch down. Just minutes later, things went from bad to worse as a Caelan Doris try was awarded following a TMO review.
Leinster continued their dominant spell and after another assault on the Munster line, Hugo Keenan crossed over untouched. A third Frawley conversion maintained a perfect start for the province.
The three-try deficit seemed to wake Munster up momentarily and they were unlucky to see a Calvin Nash try ruled out for a forward pass. Not long after, they were on the board with Seán O’Brien going over after a nice pass by Gavin Coombes.
Just when it looked like things were turning around for the province, disaster struck when former Munster man RG Snyman powered over for the bonus point try to leave it 26-5 at half time.
Despite having 50% of possession, Munster struggled to break down the Leinster defence, who in turn were extremely efficient in attack.
The second half saw Munster once again struggle to break down Leinster who forced the men in red to make mistakes after initially gaining ground.
Munster finally touched down through Mike Haley shortly after the hour mark after good work by Murray and Coombes in the build-up. Crowley’s conversion made it 26-12 and that’s the way it finished after Leinster dominated once again but missed two penalties late on.
Munster will now be sweating on the fitness of a number of players ahead of a trip to South Africa to play the Stormers and the Sharks respectively.
Player of the match: Caelan Doris (Leinster).
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Seán O’Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (C); Jack O’Donoghue, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron for Scannell (HIA 6mins), John Ryan for Stephen Archer (12 mins, Kieran Ryan for Loughman (15 mins), Niall Scannell for Kieran Ryan (17 mins), Jeremy Loughman for John Ryan (23 mins), Tom Ahern for Kleyn (49 mins), John Ryan for Loughman (51 mins), Ruadhan Quinn for Coombes (55mins), Gavin Coombes for Hodnett (HIA 58-68 mins), Conor Murray for Casey (59 mins), Tony Butler for Farrell (75 mins), Kieran Ryan for John Ryan (HIA, 74).
Tries: Seán O’Brien, Mike Haley.
Cons: Jack Crowley 1/2.
Pens: Jack Crowley 0/1.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Lee Barron, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (C).
Replacements: Max Deegan for Conan (18 mins), Gus McCarthy for Barron (half-time), Ryan Baird for Snyman (49 mins), Thomas Clarkson for Baird (HIA, 51 mins), Shay McCarthy for O’Brien (61 mins), Cian Healy for Furlong (65 mins), Ross Byrne for Turner, Luke McGrath for Gibson-Park (both 69 mins), Harry Byrne for Lowe (76 mins).
Tries: James Lowe, Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan, RG Snyman.
Cons: Ciarán Frawley 3/4.
Pens: Ross Byrne 0/1, Ciarán Frawley 0/1.
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
AR 1: Peter Martin (IRFU) AR 2: Keane Davison (IRFU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)