MY EDINBURGH FRINGE MEN PUT ON BRAVE SHOW
MUNSTER ..... 44 EDINBURGH..14
RICHARD COCKERILL shrugged off Edinburgh’s Pro14 crushing in Cork and hailed the bravery of his fringe men.
The coach had warned the enforced absence of 18 frontline stars would make the clash almost a mission impossible – and a trouncing was on the cards after Munster piled up six first-half tries.
But Cockerhill was quick to praise the spirit of his players. He said: “My young team never gave up and I was proud of them.
“This was always going to be a daunting match against a line-up full of seasoned internationalists.
“However, our lads stuck to their tasks superbly and they will benefit from the experience.”
Munster were ahead in only four minutes through centre Chris Farrell. Andrew Conway followed him over in 15 minutes and JJ Hanrahan hit the extras.
Edinburgh scrum-half Nathan Fowles limped off to be replaced by Sean Kennedy and soon after Conway went over again.
Munster were hushed as Duhan van der Merwe powered over to break Edinburgh’s duck and his South African compatriot Jaco van der Walt converted.
But Munster secured the bonus point in 30 minutes through Keith Earls and he notched a double in the build up to the interval.
Incredibly there was still time for the Irish veteran to complete a stunning eight-minute hat-trick. In the second period Tyler Bleyendaal got try No.7.
Van der Merwe got another for Edinburgh – goaled by Jason Baggott – but Farrell ended the scoring with his second try.