A Day To Remember For Munster’s Young Guns In Coventry

Munster’s memorable Heineken Champions Cup opener had everything, as their mix of youth and experience garnered a brilliant 35-14 bonus point win over 14-man Wasps.

In Pics: Wasps 14 Munster 35

With the province rebounding out of a Covid-19 crisis, twelve players made their senior debuts, and coupled with some seasoned internationals, they did all that was asked of them in this Coventry clash.

Guided by Munster Academy manager Ian Costello, in the absence of the entire senior coaching staff, the men in red were without 34 senior players but a stirring performance made it one of their red-letter days in Europe.

Wasps had their own Covid difficulties, having to withdraw four starters before kick-off from an already injury-hit squad. They also fell foul of referee Romain Poite’s whistle.

The hosts had captain Brad Shields sent off for a 24th-minute high tackle on Dave Kilcoyne, and Dan Frost saw yellow before half-time as Munster took a 13-7 lead.

The bounce of the ball favoured Keith Earls for Munster’s opening try, which cancelled out an Alife Barbeary effort and supplemented two earlier penalties from Joey Carbery.

Andrew Conway and debutants Patrick Campbell and Scott Buckley all touched down in the second half, while Carbery finished with 15 points before unfortunately having to leave the pitch with his arm in a makeshift sling.

Captain Peter O’Mahony, who had a fine game as he led by example, commented: “We spoke about just getting to the game, that was a win in itself. To get a bonus point away from home in Europe? That hasn’t really sunk in yet.

“That’s an incredible feat for the guys who played for Munster for the first time, never mind their first European game. It’s hard to sum up. It was an incredible two weeks.

“Obviously, we’ve had a lot of disruption and you’re normally fine-tuning for Europe but we were kind of building from the ground up for the last two weeks.

“It has been incredibly enjoyable. It’s been a mental experience, but I couldn’t be prouder of the lads between the young fellas – obviously, it’s an incredible step up for them but they did some job today.

“The senior players who were left behind did an incredible job of coaching and doing multiple roles. Some guys who would have been, ‘put their head down and work away’, they put their guard down and really opened up to the young guys and helped them along as much as they could.

“Then the coaches, it was tough for them not being the people who were in isolation, they were the guys here thrown in the deep end.

“‘Cossie’ and ‘Kyri’ (Andy Kyriacou) and Greig (Oliver), they did an incredible job liaising with the other guys and giving us some great sessions.”

A fantastic travelling support got behind Munster throughout at the Coventry Building Society Arena and gave the team a real boost in what was a breathless first round encounter.

A blistering start saw a fired-up O’Mahony produce a superb tackle to deny Wasps’ Thomas Young a try in the right corner, inside the opening two minutes.

The Munstermen led by three points after six minutes’ play, with Ireland out-half Carbery punishing Wasps for going offside.

The Gallagher Premiership club had an opportunity to reply two minutes later – Munster were guilty of not rolling away – but Jimmy Gopperth’s attempt struck the upright.

An outstanding defensive effort was needed to stop Wasps as they attacked off their lineout maul and Tadhg Beirne showed great skill to cause huge disruption.

Wasps identified the scrum as an area to target with five Champions Cup debutants in the Munster pack. The tempo never let up for the opening quarter as the teams battled to get a foothold in the game.

John Hodnett, making his European bow, certainly was not fazed by the occasion, applying the pressure at the breakdown and winning turnover ball at crucial times.

After Shields’ dismissal, Carbery missed the resulting penalty as the ball hit the post but he made up for it two minutes later when converting his third penalty attempt.

With play somewhat chaotic at times given the much-changed line-ups, the frenzied nature did not let up when an open passage of play saw Wasps and Munster both offload and move the ball at pace.

The end-to-end action finished with Wasps scoring the first try after the half hour mark with number 8 Barbeary getting over the whitewash, finishing a move that he had started.

Although Gopperth’s conversion made it 7-6, a period of sustained pressure followed for Munster and, armed with a penalty advantage awarded, Conor Murray chipped over the Wasps defence.

Experienced winger Earls was on hand to capitalise as he touched down the loose ball, to the left of the posts, to score his 60th try for his native province.

Carbery’s conversion left the scoreboard showing, and Munster were given a further boost when Wasps hooker Frost was yellow carded after a great block from Eoin O’Connor put pressure on the hosts.

All in all, it was a thoroughly entertaining and wild half of rugby, and 19-year-old full-back Campbell, a regular in the Energia All-Ireland League with Young Munster, starred on the resumption.

The former Cork minor footballer took advantage with Munster having an overlap out wide on the left. He seized his opportunity, expertly gliding through a gap to score and quickly be engulfed by his team-mates.

It remained 18-7 when Carbery’s conversion attempt once again hitting a post. Conway soon got over for the third try, running in unopposed after Wasps had spilled the ball during a counter attack.

With Carbery tagging on the extras, Wasps were soon back to their full complement. Crucially, the next score went to Munster and their 21-year-old hooker deservedly opened his account for the province.

A brilliantly-worked lineout move saw Beirne play the inside pass for Buckley to gallop in behind the posts. Carbery converted to give Munster a 32-7 advantage.

Wasps hit back when Michael Le Bourgeois picked a good line to score from close range, only for a Carbery penalty to make it 35-14 with 14 minutes remaining.

Munster’s bench players, including seven debutants, were all brought on by Costello and acquitted themselves very well down the final stretch.

The proud Ennis trio of Tony Butler, Ethan Coughlan and Conor Moloney got game-time, with Shannon’s Daniel Okeke shining at number 8, especially with his ball-carrying which regularly gobbled up metres.

Cruelly, Carbery had to depart with an arm/shoulder injury, and he will be assessed by the Munster medical team. The province’s next European assignment is a home date with Castres Olympique next Saturday.