Casey’s late show sees Munster pull clear

CARDIFF boss Dai Young is targeting a big finish to another disappointing campaign and he saw enough in a gutsy performance in Cork to believe they can get a lot from their three remaining games in the URC.

They may have to try to do that – against Zebre, Dragons and Benetton – without Hallam Amos, after the 27-year-old limped off with a hamstring injury which could mean he has played his last professional rugby game as he is retiring in the summer to concentrate on his medical career.

Young, with his side winning just two of their last 14 games, wants them to build on this one in their final home against Zebre on Friday.

“There’s three games left and three wins is what we’re aiming for but we’ll need to play at our best,” he said. “The disappointing factor of the last few weeks has been that we haven’t performed near where we can.

“We pushed them a lot closer than the scoreboard suggests but Munster were more clinical than us when they had opportunities.”

Victory moves Munster second in the table but skipper Peter O’Mahony acknowledged the doublescores result flattered them.

“We were chasing our tails for quite a long time in that game so we will need to have a look at our defence,” said O’Mahony. “Overall the win meant a lot to our URC campaign, we’re delighted with the five points.”

Munster led by 27-14 at the break but behind that scoreline was a Cardiff side who hit them for two converted tries in the opening 17 minutes from second row Seb Davies and superb centre Ray Lee-Lo.

In between, Mike Haley struck for Munster’s opening try after a 17-phase move and he added a second on 26 minutes after cutting a superb line to finish a move he started from deep.

Ben Healy extended the lead with his second penalty and then Munster pulled away when the impressive Thomas Ahern stretched and scored for another converted try before the break.

That should have killed the Cardiff challenge but they hit back on 56 minutes when experienced scrum-half Lloyd Williams stepped inside tighthead John Ryan from a ruck to score under the posts, with Jarrod Evans converting to cut the margin to 27-21.

Healy eased the home nerves with a penalty from 40 metres — extending his run of successful kicks to 21 — and scrum-half Craig Casey came off the bench to nab two tries as Munster secured their place in the quarter-finals.