Forwards Set The Tone For Munster’s Murrayfield Success

Munster secured another important Guinness PRO14 win, emerging as 22-10 winners over Edinburgh at a wet and windy BT Murrayfield.

Jack O’Donoghue, Craig Casey and Gavin Coombes were the try scorers, with the dominant Munster pack laying the foundations for this well-earned result during the first half. JJ Hanrahan kicked seven points.

Billy Holland, the province’s captain on the night, was fittingly named the Guinness player-of-the-match after an excellent performance on his 240th Munster appearance.

The victory keeps Johann van Graan’s men well clear at the top of Conference B. They are nine points ahead of second-placed Connacht with four games remaining in the regular season.

Chris Cloete was unlucky to be pinged for an early steal but the flanker was rewarded for his work at the breakdown with a vital turnover to foil an early Edinburgh attack.

Edinburgh played with the swirling wind in the first half and were on the front foot early on. Out-half Jaco van der Walt kicked the hosts into an early 3-0 lead.

Waterford man O’Donoghue won an important breakdown penalty to win back possession, and Hanrahan duly levelled matters with his first penalty on the quarter hour mark.

Superb Munster defence held the Scots out midway through the half, preventing a certain try, and they then forced a knock-on following the resulting five-metre scrum.

Encouragingly, the Munster scrum then drove through their Edinburgh counterparts to force a penalty and Hanrahan cleared to halfway.

The table toppers spread the ball wide off the lineout and Mike Haley kicked into the corner with Edinburgh lucky to clear their lines after the initial clearing kick was blocked.

Anther clever Haley kick kept Edinburgh pinned deep in their half and the Munster pack did the rest. A well-worked lineout saw Munster peeling around the blindside with back rower Coombes held up.

The forwards were in a clinical mood, however, and O’Donoghue twisted to score on 29 minutes. He was stopped initially but rolled over a defender to touch down.

The visitors picked up their second try four minutes before half-time, as Casey fooled the defence with a dummy before sniping over from close range. Hanrahan converted to give his side a 17-3 lead at the break.

A Henry Pyrgos kick in behind gave Edinburgh an attacking platform early in the second period. Indeed, Bill Mata touched down, five minutes in, and van der Walt converted to suddenly close the gap to seven points.

A slick move after a lineout off-the-top nearly led to a third Munster try, but the ball slipped through full-back Haley’s hands as he released the final pass towards Andrew Conway.

Nearing the hour mark, powerful number 8 Coombes gave Munster some breathing space with his eighth try of the season. A strong maul had put the men in red in position, with Casey going close to completing his brace.

Hanrahan’s conversion hit the post but van Graan’s charges were 12 points to the good as this keenly-contested game entered the final quarter.

Big scrum defence held out Edinburgh as the hosts looked to hit back. Digging in, the Munster forwards managed to hold firm with Edinburgh eventually penalised after they were unable to hook the ball.

Edinburgh second row Andrew Davidson received lengthy treatment before being stretchered off late on. His team-mates fought hard for a losing bonus point, but Munster avoided the concession of a late try.