Connacht Overhaul Munster In Thrilling Derby Clash

Connacht claimed the prized scalp of provincial rivals Munster, scoring three tries in a memorable 24-16 New Year’s Day victory in gusty Galway.

The westerners’ first win over Munster since December 2008 – and only their second in the last 42 meetings – saw them extend their unbeaten home record this season to eight games.

Ian Keatley, the former Connacht out-half, used his knowledge of the famed Sportsground wind to help Munster lead this hard-edged GUINNESS PRO12 derby 13-0 by the quarter hour mark.

He converted Peter O’Mahony’s 10th-minute try and kicked two penalties in very difficult wet conditions, before a brilliantly engineered try by Kieran Marmion – started and converted by Craig Ronaldson – got Connacht back in touch.

Keatley’s third successful penalty made it 16-7 for half-time, only for wind-backed Connacht to respond with 17 unanswered points in the third quarter.

Well-worked tries from out-half Ronaldson and powerful lock Aly Muldowney were both converted by Darragh Leader, with Ronaldson’s replacement Miah Nikora landing a 55th minute penalty.

Although they threw everything at Connacht in a gripping climax, Munster endured a scoreless second half thanks to some defiant, disciplined defending from the hosts.

This interprovincial tie started as it finished with Anthony Foley’s side pinning Connacht back in their 22. After returning captain O’Mahony forced his Connacht counterpart John Muldoon to concede a ruck penalty, Keatley gave the visitors a seventh minute lead.

Connacht’s maul defence has been particularly strong this season, but they were found wanting when O’Mahony found space to power over in the left corner with support from BJ Botha and Duncan Williams.

A superb conversion was swung over by Keatley for 10-0 and he soon added a second penalty, as Connacht desperately tried to bludgeon forward through their pack and lively centre Bundee Aki.

It took some terrific interplay between the home backs, on the half hour, to finally carve open the Munster defence. Man-of-the-match Robbie Henshaw gobbled up Ronaldson’s pinpoint kick over the top and he rode a tackle before passing for the supporting Marmion to dive over to the left of the posts.

Ronaldson drove over the conversion to close the gap to six points and just as the tide seemed to be turning, a high tackle by Aki on Simon Zebo allowed Keatley to close out the first half’s scoring.

However, Connacht made the ideal start to the second period, Henshaw again hurtling through the Munster midfield and although Aki was hauled down close to the posts, a quick recycle saw Ronaldson crash over past two defenders.

The Connacht number 10 injured himself in the act of scoring, so winger Leader stepped up to add the conversion and make it a two-point game – 16-14.

The increasingly influential centre pairing of Aki and Henshaw did some further damage before an offside decision saw Nikora boot Pat Lam’s men in front with 25 minutes remaining.

A storming carry by Quinn Roux soon got the westerners back into scoring range and from a subsequent scrum, the fast-breaking Marmion was stopped just short before Muldowney muscled over from a couple of metres out.

Leader added the extras from the left and despite Paul O’Connell and company clawing their way back to the 22 through countless phases, Connacht survived a spate of late onslaughts to ensure they started 2015 with a bang. The vocal home crowd duly celebrated with a lusty rendition of ‘The Fields of Athenry’.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Connacht head coach Lam said: “I am extremely proud of the guys, it was a game that we had to win. I said at the start of the week that we pick a game-plan around the battle that we will face and, watching what Munster did to Leinster last week, we put a bit of work into it this week, and fair play to the boys, they did it together and it was a fantastic effort.

“In all of my time in Galway I have been hearing about the wind and hearing about the rain, you get a little bit and that was probably the worst we have had.

“We saw that last week and so we prepared as a coaching staff and I have got to take my hat off to the coaching staff.”

He added: “He (Henshaw) just gets better and better. It’s only his second game with Bundee, the two of them get on really well. This whole thing that we are doing is that we have a small squad, but in the group there is massive competition. The guys help each other, they make sure there isn’t cliques, they have lunch with different guys.

“But that type of competition drives it. You see young Ultan Dillane stepping up covering for Quinn Roux and the injury to Mick Kearney. That competition drives the older guys and that’s they key to us getting better.”

Munster boss Foley conceded: “The seven points Connacht scored in the first half made a big difference in the game. If we go in 16 points up at half-time they are questioning whether they can get back into it.

“A nine-point lead in those conditions won’t suffice. That was a killer. Even though we were nine points ahead at half-time, we needed to come out in the second half and do something. In fairness to Connacht they were pretty stingy in the second half and we didn’t get anything out of the game.

“In the second half we didn’t shift up the pitch. A couple of times we kicked out on the full. We didn’t turn them enough, didn’t asked questions of them enough in terms of possession.

“If we had shifted possession up, maintained it and kept them under pressure, lineouts were hard to win at times. I think they will probably end up with better stats than us out of the lineouts. That is another area we fell down on.”