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Johnny sets a new scoring record of 1,234 points as Leinster see off meagre Munster challenge
JUST six points separated these warring factions at the end of this latest derby renewal, but the suggested closeness on the scoreboard was a mirage, classier Leinster by far the better side throughout a contest that never came to the boil.
But for soft handling errors by the hosts gifting defensively lax Munster a pair of breakaway tries, the margin would have been of comfortable double-digit proportions.
Even at the death, with the visitors having scored their third in the 79th minute, the remaining seconds summed up the disparity between these rivals, limited Munster’s unexpected shot at fashioning what would have been an undeserved victory ending with them suffocated in possession in their own 22.
Instead of fashioning a line break, they repeatedly ran down blind alleys, even quickly tapping a penalty rather than opt for a lineout further up the field to build from.
It smacked of desperation and a lack of composure and it was a mercy when replacement scrumhalf Duncan Williams eventually said enough was enough, kicking the ball dead to end the contest and bank a losing bonus with his team grimly hemmed back on their line.
In derby terms, the average spectacle was in keeping with much of what was seen in recent years, Munster simply not having enough ideas when they come to play in the capital in front of a bumper attendance, yesterday’s crowd impressively checking in at 46,374.
The loss was the visitors’ ninth in 10 outings at the revamped Aviva Stadium, a fourth defeat in 12 months at Irish rugby HQ under Rassie Erasmus, and they headed home feeling vulnerable to suffering a third consecutive defeat on the road as they now head to France for a European opener against Castres next Sunday following losses in Glasgow and Dublin.
When it finished the various stats generally checked in even enough, but it failed to tell the tale of an encounter where Munster suffered under a penalty count that was weighted 1-7 and 4-11 against them when the exchanges most mattered, four late Leinster concessions only eventually narrowing how unconvincing referee Ben Whitehouse had viewed proceedings.
They also suffered a yellow card for their troubles but curiously its impact wasn’t as telling, Munster emerging from that particular 10minute spell having scored the converted try that had them level for a short while before they then gave way, Leinster regaining control that was never again usurped.
They should have won in a canter. Their forwards dominated and their defensive line speed had Munster wrapped up in knots on the other side of the ball, but the fact it ultimately wasn’t a cakewalk will be useful in focusing minds on the training grounds in coming days as they prepare to host Montpellier in a Champions Cup opener at the RDS next Saturday.
Leinster made the better start, but it was the visitors who would have felt more frustrated. An early sequence of missed touch-finders was problematic and then came the 13th-minute mishap that denied them the opening score, Chris Farrell’s pass dreadfully floating forward to rule out Keith Earls’ run-in, the TMO stepping in to assist the flustered Whitehouse, who had given Johnny Sexton’s protests the brush off.
It was a huge momentum swing. A scrum infringement soon had Leinster back in the opposition 22 and with Tadhg Furlong making inroads, the scene was set to Rory O’Loughlin to make generous amends for his earlier handling error, spinning away from John Ryan’s clutches and having the verve to finish off his thrust under the posts much to the chagrin of CJ Stander and Robin Copeland.
It quickly got worse for the Reds, Niall Scannell, trying to get back into the defensive line on halfway after hauling himself up hurt from the ground, exasperatingly knocked on deliberately as Robbie Henshaw tried to link with Furlong.
The hooker was carded, tough punishment as the incident has only occurred on halfway, but the invitation for Leinster to prosper with temporary numerical advan- tage was spurned.
A deft cover tackle was required from Joey Carbery to deny Earls a breakaway after Leinster again messed up attacking in the Munster 22, but there was no scrambled cover to prevent the alert Ian Keatley from fastening onto Sexton’s loose transfer to Robbie Henshaw. Once he gave James Tracy the slip, he was out the gap, touching down under the posts on 27 minutes with an easy score-levelling conversion to follow.
This ambush meant Munster had seen through the yellow card period with a seven-point harvest, but it was no portent of even better to follow once Scannell reappeared.
Instead, Sexton teased Earls by twice launching Adam Byrne in the air against the winger in the same move and it resulted in the out-half then deploying one of his trademark midfield loops, linking with Furlong before the supporting Carbery careered through and ushered in O’Loughlin for his second try.
Arriving five minutes before the interval, it appeared to be the contest’s defining score, especially as the second half began with Leinster tightening their grip, Sexton’s penalty punishing Farrell’s high intervention on Carbery.
But the hosts’ sloppy opening half handling hadn’t been fully rectified, another spill permitting Tommy O’Donnell to speed from one 22 to the other and tee up Earls to beat Byrne to the corner for an unconverted try.
With an all-changed front row now introduced, a scrum penalty led to Sexton calming things down four minutes after the 48th-minute try. Scannell was then penalised with Josh Van der Flier all over him at the ruck, leading to 55th-minute penalty points, moving the margin out to 11.
Munster, who had earlier sacrificed Keatley and moved full-back JJ Hanrahan to out-half, weren’t fully finished, threatening briefly with a couple of mauls in the corner, but that assault went unrewarded and it was only 20 minutes later at the very end when they struck for their bonus-earning consolation through Earls. LEINSTER: J Carbery; A Byrne, R O’Loughlin, R Henshaw, B Daly (F McFadden 73); J Sexton (R Byrne 76), L McGrath (J Gibson-Park 62); J McGrath (C Healy, 49), J Tracy (S Cronin 49), T Furlong (M Bent 49), D Toner, S Fardy (R Molony, 70), R Ruddock (J Murphy 62), J van der Flier (Ruddock 73), J Conan. ScoRERS – Tries: O’Loughlin 17, 35. cons: Sexton 18, 36. Pen: Sexton 44, 52, 55. MUNSTER: JJ Hanrahan; A Conway, C Farrell, T Bleyendaal (R Scannell 66), K Earls; I Keatley (A Wootton, 45), C Murray (D Williams 73); D Kilcoyne (L O’Connor 67), N Scannell (R Marshall 67), J Ryan (S Archer 45), R Copeland (M Flanagan 69), B Holland, P O’Mahony, T O’Donnell (Marshall 29-31; J O’Donoghue 64), CJ Stander. ScoRERS – Tries: Keatley 27, Earls 48, 79. con: Keatley 28. YELLow caRd: N Scannell (21). REFEREE: B Whitehouse (Wales).