Hodnett Helps Himself To Debut Try In Record Munster Win

Ten-try Munster kept up their challenge for top spot in GUINNESS PRO14 Conference B after a record 68-3 win over a poor Isuzu Southern Kings side at Irish Independent Park.

Arno Botha scored a hat-trick of tries – two in the first half and the penultimate score of the game – as Munster broke new ground for their highest score, biggest winning margin and most tries in a competitive match, most notably eclipsing last season’s nine-try 64-7 victory over Ulster.

Shane Daly scored two tries during the final quarter with man-of-the-match John Hodnett, making his first start for the province, also getting in on the act.

The Kings, who trailed 28-3 at half-time, did not help their cause by having two players sin-binned, one in each half, but the bottom-placed South African outfit had no answer to Munster’s pace and power.

Munster opened the scoring after eight minutes with a try from powerful South African number 8 Botha. He surged over from a scrum following the sin-binning of Kings full-back Andell Loubser, who had killed the ball after Hodnett’s initial rampaging run. JJ Hanrahan converted for a seven-point lead.

Kings replied with a Demetri Catrakilis penalty on the quarter-hour mark but Munster chalked up a second try after 22 minutes. A switch move from Dan Goggin in front of the visitors’ posts saw possession fed to Mike Haley who sent Calvin Nash past two defenders for a high-quality finish, with Hanrahan adding a difficult conversion.

Botha was in for his second seven-pointer soon after, taking a lovely line onto Hanrahan’s skip pass to carve open the Kings defence and cross from just outside the 22. The South Africans did apply pressure in the 10 minutes before the interval but were not able to convert it into points.

Johann van Graan’s men had the last say of the half with Jack O’Donoghue’s bonus point try from a clever chip over the top by Hanrahan. The Kerry native converted for a fourth time to leave 25 points between the sides at the break.

Munster made it five tries in the 49th minute with Cork youngster Hodnett finishing off impressively – handing off Catrakilis in the process – after he got on the end of a counter attack started by full-back Haley, on a superb kick return. Neil Cronin was the link man.

The busy scrum half deservedly claimed a try for himself just four minutes later, profiting from a blindside break by Goggin down the right wing. Hanrahan converting that and Hodnett’s earlier touchdown to leave it 42-3 approaching the closing quarter.

Left winger Daly made the most of a poor Kings pass and pounced to score Munster’s seventh with replacement Ben Healy converting. Goggin then made it onto the scoresheet – capitalising on replacement Nick McCarthy’s sniping run off a maul – and there was still time for a diving Botha to wrap up his hat-trick and Daly to complete his brace.

Munster head coach van Graan commented afterwards: “I’m so glad for John, he was eager to get some game-time, and he had been excellent against Connacht a few weeks back. That prompted us to put him in again with Jack O’Donoghue and Arno Botha beside him.

“I thought he was excellent tonight and what impressed me was that before the game he was calm and during the game he had some big moments.

“It’s great to get someone like that through the system. He’s from Cork and drives to Limerick a lot while studying down here, and it just shows that we have some gems within the province.”