THANKS FOR THAT, DANNY BOY LANCASTER FEELS RIGHT AT HOME WITH LEINSTER

Gloucester star’s dismissal lets opposite number Carbery have his way as Munster earn bonus point

DANNY CIPRIANI’S contribution was always likely to go a long way to deciding the outcome at Thomond Park, but safe to say nobody envisaged seeing the Gloucester out-half trudge off to the bench with less than 30 minutes on the clock.

His high tackle on Rory Scannell, reviewed extensively by referee Alexandre Ruiz before Cipriani was red carded, ensured that a bad week ended on another low point for the divisive No 10.

Cipriani had travelled to Limerick with a point to prove after England head coach Eddie Jones omitted him from his squad for the upcoming internationals.

The Premiership Player of the Month for September had started brightly, playing with intent and kicking a good penalty just moments before his afternoon came to a premature end.

Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann struggled to hide his frustration about the consistency of refereeing on the high tackle, particularly as centre Billy Twelvetrees wasn’t punished for a similar incident that was also reviewed.

‘The law protects the player, sometimes it’s what we call an accident,’ Ackermann said.

‘If you hit your car it’s an accident, you don’t plan for it. Get on a plane, maybe it’s going to fall. Some back rowers make 25 tackles in a game, they get one wrong and now they say he has bad technique. What about the 24 great tackles? We can debate this over and over. The biggest thing, I say, is: do we constantly want to see 14 play 15? I don’t know.’

By the time the visitors lost Cipriani, Munster had already taken control of this Pool 2 clash, with full-back Mike Haley dotting down on the 20 minute mark after the province spent the early exchanges absorbing Gloucester pressure. Munster wing Darren Sweetnam made the initial break down left, feeding Duncan Williams who ignored the run of Tommy O’Donnell before being brought to ground, with the ball recycled out to right flank, Andrew Conway’s pass fed Haley who raced over.

Cipriani’s opposite number, Joey Carbery, was also a man under the microscope on the occasion of his first European start at Thomond Park, and although he dragged his first conversation attempt wide, the 22-year-old soon found his rhythm, producing a series of magical moments in the second half and capping a man-of-the-match display with a well-taken try.

On-looking Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt – suitably dressed for the occasion in a bright red jacket – will undoubtedly be happy to see how Carbery’s game is developing in his new surroundings. In the space of a week at Munster, the 22-year-old has equaled the number of Champions Cup starts that he made at outhalf during his entire three seasons with Leinster.

Munster’s second try was the most industrious of the day, Rhys Marshall charging over from the back of a maul, leaving the province with a 15-3 advantage at the break and with a bonus point in their sights.

They slowly began to turn on the style after the restart with Tadhg Beirne making a wonderful break before failing to get on the end of his own kick and chase. Shortly after a successful lineout move, Carbery was released by Dan Goggin, ignoring two free men as he raced over.

The bonus point soon arrived and again Carbery was the catalyst, producing a deft behind the back pass to keep the move alive before Sammy Arnold finished.

To their credit, Gloucester refused to throw in the towel and mustered up three tries, even if the result was long beyond doubt. First, Gerbrandt Grobler – making his first return to Thomond Park after a controversial season with the province – muscled over before full-back Jason Woodward finished a fine move. Conway added a fifth for Munster before No 8 Ben Morgan grabbed a third for the visitors in a frantic final period, which saw the hosts’ Arnold and Stephen Archer yellow carded.

Van Graan admitted that it has been a very positive start to the European season for his team, although the province are awaiting updates on worrying injuries to Dan Goggin (knee) and Rhys Marshall (upper leg) while Tommy O’Donnell, suffered a suspected broken leg.

‘It is worrying from our side,’ said Van Graan of the injuries in his squad. ‘We talk about player welfare but the game is becoming more and more physical and guys gets shots.’

When the competition resumes in December, Munster face a very winnable double-header against Top14 champions Castres.

‘I am really glad about the five points. If you told us two weeks ago that we would be sitting on top of the group with seven points we would take it,’ the coach added.

It may not have been perfect, but Munster find themselves the team to beat in Pool 2.