Munster cruised to a 31-7 bonus point victory away to Zebre in the GUINNESS PRO12, thanks mainly to a comprehensive first half display that set the tone and produced three converted tries.
Anthony Foley’s men led 24-0 at the break thanks to tries from Felix Jones, CJ Stander and Conor Murray. Ian Keatley kicked three conversions and a penalty.
The fourth try and crucial bonus point was secured early in the second period with Simon Zebo touching down. Keatley rounded off a flawless kicking display by adding the extras.
A controlling first half performance gave Munster the upper hand in Parma and in the closing 40 minutes there was further positive news with the returns from injury of Keith Earls and James Cronin.
The visitors, eager to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to Connacht, were awarded an early penalty after Zebre flanker Filippo Cristiano was pinged for hands in the ruck. Out-half Keatley stepped up to slot the opening points in the eighth minute.
Just minutes later, South African centre Pat Howard broke through the Zebre defence, crashing into their 22 and he got his offload away for full-back Jones (pictured above) to run in the first try of the game. With Keatley landing the conversion, Foley’s side were 10-0 to the good.
The next try came off the back of a dominant scrum and quick thinking from man-of-the-match Stander in front of the posts. When awarded a free-kick after a number of resets, the number 8 took a quick tap and go and barged over.
The third seven-pointer came two minutes later thanks to the hard work of centres JJ Hanrahan and Howard who brought play deep inside Zebre territory.
This time it was scrum half Murray (pictured below) who opted to go himself from close range and as he crashed over the line, he collided with the post and was removed from the field of play for further examination. Duncan Williams took his place until half-time.
A final first half flourish from Zebre tested the Munster defence and the hosts missed a clear try-scoring opportunity when a three-on-one attack was blown by number 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk who was unable to control the ball.
The league’s bottom side came out after the break with their tails up and immediately went in search of a way back into the match.
However, their first attack was broken down and Stander picked up possession to link with Ronan O’Mahony. The winger then kicked ahead into open space and with his opposite number chasing, Zebo was at the end of it to cross for Munster’s fourth try.
The Italians sought in vain to make steady progress into Munster territory but their handling was poor and they made it too easy for the visitors.
Zebre looked unlikely to find a way onto the scoreboard and Munster had the luxury of introducing Earls (pictured below) for his first appearance of the season and the fit-again Cronin. Both players got ‘a good hit-out’ according to Foley.
The home side did eventually make their mark, however, when, following a long deliberation with the TMO, referee Ian Davies awarded a try to replacement hooker Oliviero Fabiani. Luciano Orquera converted it.
A dogged final quarter saw both teams with opportunities to score but Zebre’s handling once again proved sub-par and Munster lacked the necessary accuracy, prop Cronin coming closest with a break into the 22 before running out of steam.
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