Crowley shows grit to allow Munster hold on for victory

Billed as a five pointer for Munster, to give them a toe hold in the top four, this was a game that promised loads but kept falling short on the delivery. In the end they had to dig this win out, with a Jack Crowley penalty six minutes before the end making it a two-score game.

The home side made enough mistakes to keep them in the video room for the week, but there will be an appetite to run as fast as possible from this episode rather than dwell on it.

Cardiff came to play, and for a side with a 25 per cent win record they looked a lot better than their stats suggested. It started with an all-out assault on Munster’s ruck ball, led by Ellis Jenkins and Mackenzie Martin, and continued with the carrying of Mason Grady and the counter attacking of Cameron Winnett.

They were helped too by dodging at least a five-point deficit when John Hodnett’s try was wiped out on rewind for a knock-on by Mike Haley. But they desperately needed something tangible to show for their efforts, which yielded four line breaks in the opening half hour.

In the same period, Munster had spilled the ball seven times — pretty high on an unusually perfect night in Limerick. They were closing in on an imperfect 10 by the time Jack Crowley eventually got them off the mark with a penalty shortly before the break.

To illustrate their profligacy the home team had a lineout in the Cardiff 22 on almost the last play of the period, which conjured up images of a 10-0 lead at the break. Sure enough they lost it. You’d think Graham Rowntree might have lost it too when the team took their seats in the changing room.

Not for the first time the third quarter would shape the outcome and Tadhg Beirne’s try looked like a deal breaker — until Ben Thomas intercepted to break a long sequence of Munster continuity and race 85m to score.

That prompted the introduction of Joey Carbery a few minutes later, but his impact was lessened almost immediately by the loss of John Ryan on a yellow card for a tip tackle, which Cardiff quickly turned into a mauled try for Liam Belcher — and the lead for Cardiff.

Crowley did really well to get over to reclaim the lead and it was still 17-12 when Ryan returned from the bin. Despite getting emptied by Thomas, having Carbery on the field was a bonus in controlling the final stages.

You wouldn’t rule him out from having a big say in how Munster’s season pans out.

Northampton Saints on Sunday in the Champions Cup is a big obstacle — they put five tries past Saracens on Friday night in their Premiership table-topping performance — followed possibly by a quarter-final and then a trip to South Africa in the URC.

Munster will need all hands on deck. And they’ll need to be a lot sharper than this effort.

Scorers — Munster: T Beirne try; J Crowley try, 2 pens, 2 cons. Cardiff: B Thomas, L Belcher try; J Beetham pen; T de Beer con Munster: M Haley (S Zebo 72); S O’Brien, A Frisch, A Nankivell (J Carbery 56), S Daly; J Crowley, C Casey (E Coughlan 70); J Loughman (J Wycherley 65), N Scannell, S Archer (J Ryan 58, yc 60i), RG Snyman, Beirne (capt); Peter O’Mahony, G Coombes, J Hodnett

Cardiff: C Winnett; O Lane (T Cabango 57), M Grady, B Thomas, J Adams; T de Beer (J Beetham 77), E Bevan (M Aubrey 60); C Domachowski (R Carré 49), L Belcher (capt), K Assiratti, B Donnell, S Davies (R Thornton 66), A Mann, M Martin, E Jenkins (T Young 51) Referee: A Piardi (Italy)