Ospreys no match for Munster’s efficiency
OSPREYS’ PRO14 woes continued in Cork as Munster claimed a bonus-point win with a ruthless display, which saw them warm up nicely for next week’s Champions Cup tussle with Leicester.
First-half tries from Sam Arnold, Darren Sweetnam and Chris Cloete put Munster in total control, which gave Ospreys no way back and they remain rooted to the foot of Conference A.
Ospreys coach Gruff Rees said: “Munster are ruthlessly efficient. Their 9, 10 and 12 got into great positions to kick well.
“We had moments but nothing where we could sustain the pressure.
“And then they prey on any weakness and picked up a couple of cheap tries. It was tough going.”
Munster were on a good run of form coming into this game and played with confidence in the opening quarter.
Ian Keatley kicked an early penalty for the home side after Sam Davies’ kick was blocked down, while Ospreys were dealt a massive blow in the 17th minute when Will Jones was shown a yellow for a high tackle on Cloete, during which time the visitors conceded two tries.
Munster struck first in the 18th minute when Arnold burst through a weak Ospreys rearguard and Keatley converted for a 10-0 lead.
Ospreys were reeling and Ireland international Sweetnam was next to dot down, five minutes later.
He broke down the right wing before giving the pass to Cloete, and he returned the favour for Sweetnam to dive on the ball over the line. Munster were now eyeing a bonus point and Cloete grabbed a deserved try on the half-hour, when he scored past Hassler in the right corner.
Keatley’s conversion gave Munster a massive 24-0 lead, and they were well in control heading for the interval.
But, to their credit, Ospreys responded with Kieron Fonotia bursting through the Munster cover just before the interval before off-loading to Hassler for their first-half try.
It was 24-5 at half-time, but it only took three minutes for Munster to stretch their lead and wrap up the bonus point when Rory Scannell sailed over in the right corner.
A brilliant Robin Copeland turnover delivered a try for Jack O’Donoghue in the 56th minute, before O’Donoghue was sin binned for an off- side infringement.
Will Jones ran in a late consolation for Ospreys nine minutes from time, but this was dominant from the home side.
This has been a big week for the province with new
boss Johann van Graan taking the reins from Rassie Erasmus for the first time, but the former Springboks coach was delighted to take all five points.
“I’m obviously very happy with the win,” said Van Graan.
“We wanted to go for the win first, but I thought we scored some fantastic tries. There was some extremely good individual performances out there and we’re pretty happy with the five points.
“I thought we scored a fantastic try after half time and could manage a few injuries with one eye on next week. But we defended really well.”