Reds fail to find rhythm on the road
DUHAN Van der Merwe crossed twice as Munster struggled to find their attacking focus while going down to Edinburgh on their return to Murrayfield last night. In an otherwise scrappy encounter, the winger was on hand to finish off two good moves to pick up four valuable points for Richard Cockerill’s side in the Pro14. Despite being strengthened by some of their returning Scotland internationals, Edinburgh were far from their best, but were still good enough to handle the best Johann van Graan’s side could throw at them, putting further heat on Ulster behind them in fourth place. Despite their early pressure inside the Munster 22, Edinburgh were unable to break through a solid defence and were soon made to pay as JJ Hanrahan kicked three points to put the visitors ahead after 20 minutes. Both sides struggled for any fluency until Edinburgh fullback Dougie Fife wriggled free of a couple of defenders halfway inside his own half and raced clear. He looked set for a sensational solo effort only to run out of gas near the 22, but he found the supporting Van der Merwe who scorched over. Edinburgh began the second half as the stronger team but could not make it count and Munster soon led 6-5 through another JJ Hanrahan penalty. Munster looked well set when Edinburgh’s Jason Harries was sin binned for a dangerous tackle, but the home side unleashed a spate of attacks that ended with Van der Merwe eventually stepped inside for his second of the evening to put the hosts 12-6 up, despite being down to 14 men. Cockerill was growing more and more agitated in the stands as Edinburgh attempted to close out the match, but they never came under any serious pressure as they were able to seal a comfortable six-point win. Edinburgh’s revival under Cockerill continues while Munster will be desperate to get their Ireland stars back into camp ahead of their European Cup quarter-final against Toulon. EDINBURGH: D Fife; J Harries, M Bennett, C Dean, D van der Merwe; J van der Walt (D Weir 60), S Hidalgo-Clyne (N Fowles 10); J Lay (R Sutherland 56), N Cochrane, M McCallum (S Berghan 47); F McKenzie (capt), B Toolis (L Carmichael 56); M Bradbury, J Hardie, B Mata (C du Preez 45). Yellow card: Harries 52. Scorers - Tries: Van der Merwe (2). Con: Van der Walt. MUNSTER: S Zebo; D Sweetnam, S Arnold, R Scannell, A Wootton (D Goggin 30); JJ Hanrahan, J Hart; J Cronin (D Kilcoyne 50), M Sherry (K O’Byrne 69), S Archer (B Scott 69); J Kleyn (D O’Shea 54), B Holland (capt); J O’Donoghue, C Oliver (T O’Donnell 54), R Copeland. Scorers - Pens: Hanrahan (2). Referee: B Whitehouse (Wales).