Bleyendaal saves bonus as sloppy Reds punished

IN his first start for Munster, Gerbrandt Grobler was part of a poor collective performance on the road as Johann van Graan’s men were dominated by impressive Cardiff.

Tries from Macauley Cook, Lloyd Williams and Owen Lane put the Blues 19-5 up at the break and two critical late penalties from Jarrod Evans made sure they came out on top.

Munster scored through Chris Cloete and Stephen Fitzgerald, but it was not enough to get them the result as they were second best. Tyler Bleyendaal’s penalty with the last kick of the game did at least earn them a losing bonus point.

Three tries in eight minutes did the damage for Danny Wilson’s men. First, Ellis Jenkins’ long pass found Cook, who dived over. Evans could not convert, but Munster felt hard done by as there looked like a knockon from Jenkins and a forward pass in the build-up to the score.

Still, the visitors did not help themselves. Duncan Williams’ clearance kick was charged down by Lloyd Williams, who scored the Blues’ second, and then Rey Lee-Lo kicked ahead from a scrum platform to give flying wing Lane a try. Evans converted both scores.