Munster profit from Connacht’s indiscipline
ANDREW Conway scored a brace of tries as Munster took advantage of two first-half red cards for Connacht to reach the Guinness PRO14 semi-finals.
Debutant Connacht No. 8 Abraham Papali’i was sent off for a 25th-minute high tackle on Conor Murray, while nine minutes later hooker Shane Delahunt saw red after leading with an elbow into CJ Stander’s neck.
Munster punished Conor Oliver’s early sin-binning with a seventh-minute Chris Cloete try and a penalty try before prop Jeremy Loughman added a third, while Connacht replacement Bundee Aki replied to make it 21-7 at half-time.
Recovering from two yellows of their own, Munster went on to dominate the second half as they climbed back above Scarlets into second place in Conference B.
Tries from man of the match Tadhg Beirne, Conway (2) and James Cronin dwarfed a Jonny Murphy effort as Johann Van Graan’s men set up a last-four clash with old foes Leinster next Friday.
Munster cemented their early dominance after flanker Oliver was guilty of going off his feet. Cloete touched down from a line-out maul and JJ Hanrahan added the first of his five conversions.
Connacht’s seven-man pack coughed up a 15th-minute penalty try from a five-metre scrum.
It was a nightmare start for Connacht, made worse when New Zealander Papali’i tackled Murray with what referee Frank Murphy adjudged was a shoulder to the head.
Following the double dismissal, Loughman provided a smart finish after 36 minutes, bouncing off a couple of tackles with Hanrahan converting.
Yellow cards for Munster captain Peter O’Mahony and Beirne near their own line evened up the numbers at 13 each late on, and Connacht grabbed a well-taken try from Aki, who powered in between a couple of front-rowers.
Yet the concession of three tries in a five-minute spell had Connacht heads dropping. Beirne picked up a 49th-minute bonus point when running a clever line inside Aki.
Hanrahan converted and added the extras to a Conway brace with the best of the afternoon’s tries seeing Beirne link with Chris Farrell and Damian De Allende before Conway finished off the long-range break.