Flying Munster shoot down the Ospreys
MUNSTER were good value for their 28-12 victory after being forced to dig deep against a gutsy Ospreys side, which gets their PRO14 campaign back on track.
The only try of the opening half came from Munster loosehead James Cronin, who finished off a good move by the impressive Mike Haley.
Tyler Bleyendaal slotted the conversion to get Munster up and running after 17 minutes.
Both sides squandered early penalties to the corners, while Haley needed to be sharp to get back and avert the danger after a Bleyendaal kick in midfield was charged down.
Ospreys failed to make the most of the resultant five-metre scrum but out-half Luke Price got them off the mark seven minutes from the break with a penalty after Jack O’Donoghue was penalised for a high tackle.
Boosted by that score, Ospreys pressed forward and when Munster were pinged on their own scrum, Price cut the gap to the minimum.
There was still time for Bleyendaal to send a superb penalty to the left corner but Ospreys defended their line superbly and went in trailing 7-6.
Munster took control after the restart and they turned the screw when Ospreys flanker Sam Cross was binned for knocking the ball out of scrum-half Neil Cronin’s hands under the posts.
Munster hooker Rhys Marshall tapped and drove to score, with Bleyendaal converting for 14-6.
Price pulled back a penalty for the Welsh but Munster crossed again with the extra man, a flowing move from left to right seeing Dan Goggin put Haley through for another converted try to lead 21-9 after 50 minutes.
Price pulled back another penalty for Ospreys and Munster had to wait until the final minute before they secured the bonus point.
Munster drove home with Arno Botha getting the touchdown to secure maximum points.