Munster gained their second consecutive bonus point win with a five-try 36-19 dismissal of Zebre in Parma, as James Hart and Academy player Calvin Nash scored their first tries for the province.
Tries from Rory Scannell, James Hart, Alex Wootton (2) and Calvin Nash secured the victory, with JJ Hanrahan kicking four conversions and a penalty to complete the Munster haul. Ahead of Johann van Graan’s first official week in charge of the squad, Felix Jones and Jerry Flannery took charge of team affairs in Italy.
The Munstermen led 17-0 after half an hour but two Zebre tries as the interval approached, after poor Munster discipline saw the province reduced to 13 men, brought the Michael Bradley-coached hosts back into the match.
However, the visitors wrapped up their latest bonus point success within 20 minutes of the restart, as Wootton crossed twice to take his PRO14 tally to seven tries before 20-year-old replacement Nash touched down in the very last play.
An early Rhys Marshall intercept almost led to a first Munster try on four minutes as lively flanker and man-of-the-match Chris Cloete touched down, but Marshall was unfortunately in touch before he got the pass away.
A dominant Munster scrum, led by a front row of hooker Marshall, Liam O’Connor and Stephen Archer, then won a penalty for Munster and Kerry native Hanrahan made no mistake off the tee for a 3-0 lead after nine minutes.
Although the out-half was unable to add to his tally after another Zebre indiscretion, a steal in the lineout from captain Billy Holland kept the men in red firmly in control.
The visiting pack did the donkey work for the first try after a solid five-metre scrum, and when Robin Copeland and Jean Kleyn were both stopped short of the line, it was the turn of the backs to have a go and centre Scannell duly sliced through a gap to score. Hanrahan added the extras to put his side into double figures.
There were 24 minutes on the click when scrum half Hart scored his first try on his first Munster, following a botched Zebre lineout that was snaffled by blood replacement Brian Scott. Hanrahan’s second conversion made it 17-0.
While Munster controlled the opening half an hour, Zebre ended the first half strongly and got off the mark in the 35th minute as Giulio Bisegni burst through from close range. By then, Munster were down to 14 players after Copeland was shown a yellow card for taking out scrum half Guglielmo Palazzani.
A second yellow card for Sam Arnold saw Munster reduced to 13 men before half-time, and Zebre took advantage in expert fashion as captain Jacopo Sarto dived over in the left corner. Palazzani landed his second conversion of the afternoon and the hosts moved to within three points – 17-14 – at the turnaround.
Nonetheless, 13-man Munster made an excellent start to the second period with South African recruit Cloete winning a vital turnover and Simon Zebo’s pinpoint kick found touch just short of the Zebre whitewash.
Copeland soon returned and the visitors nearly crossed in the left corner – this time the Zebre defence stood firm – but Wootton scored Munster’s third try in the 51st minute after a sustained period of pressure, as the winger showed his pace to touch down in the right corner for a 22-14 scoreline.
The bonus point score arrived only four minutes later as the back-three did superbly to manufacture it. Firstly, Darren Sweetnam caught a Zebre box-kick and managed to get an offload away with Zebo then floating a superb, inch-perfect pass into the path of Wootton and the winger did the rest for his second try, scored this time in the opposite left corner.
Hanrahan’s neatly-struck conversion made it 29-14 and although Giovanbattista Venditti, who was a late inclusion in the starting line-up, hit back with a five-pointer for Zebre from Maicol Azzolini’s cross-field kick, Munster finished in the ascendancy.
Shannon and Munster Academy scrum half Jack Stafford came on to make his debut late on. He ensured a high tempo and set up a first Munster try for fellow replacement Nash. The Young Munster clubman picked a superb line, hurtling onto Stafford’s snappy pass off a close-in ruck, and Hanrahan added the extras for a 17-point winning margin.
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