A RED ARMY HOLDS FIRM

10 16

MUNSTER, down to 13 men, had to withstand a frenetic late rally from Connacht at the Sportsground but they did enough to hold on for victory.

Connacht came with a late rally which yielded a try for replacement winger Peter Sullivan, his first for Andy Friend’s side, and Jacky Carty’s touchline conversion secured a losing bonus point.

But with replacements Rory Scannell and Nick Mccarthy in the bin, Connacht went for the kill and it took a superb tackle from veteran Billy Holland to deny Sullivan a matchwinner, while Ultan Dillane then almost made the line. However, that was as close as Connacht got as Munster, who lost for the first time this season last weekend away to Ulster, held on for victory.

“We knew it would be tough and we didn’t help ourselves by giving away so many penalties but it was good to hold out for the win,” said man of the match Tadhg Beirne (inset).

Munster were forced on the backfoot leading up to half-time and when tighthead prop Stephen Archer was penalised for not binding in a scrum, Carty slotted the penalty on the stroke of half-time to reduce the deficit.

Connacht piled forward but were unable to find a way through and it was Munster who countered and stretched the home defence before Hanrahan extended their lead after 62 minutes with a penalty in front of the posts.

That left Connacht chasing the game in the final quarter but Munster’s defence was superb with CJ Stander, Peter O’mahony and man of the match Beirne leading the way.