KIlcoyne Try Sees Munster Take Control

Munster ended a tight European Champions Cup encounter on their terms, winning 14-3 as Saracens succumbed to the red tide at Thomond Park.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: MUNSTER 14 SARACENS 3

Dave Kilcoyne came off the bench to score a decisive 61st-minute try while Saracens replacement prop Rhys Gill was in the sin-bin.

Despite a disappointing night with the boot, Ian Keatley contributed two penalties and his drop goal – with 14 minutes left – proved to be the final score of a bruising Anglo-Irish battle.

The expectant home crowd had to wait until the 27th minute for Keatley’s opening penalty which the returning Owen Farrell cancelled out in a first half that had no clean line-breaks.

The Munster out-half made it 6-3 in the 54th minute following Gill’s yellow card, and Kilcoyne touched down from an advancing maul against 14-man Sarries.

With man-of-the-match Conor Murray (pictured below) marshalling the hosts from scrum half, they sealed their second Pool 1 win thanks to Keatley’s second drop goal of the tournament.

This fascinating round 2 tie remained scoreless in an edgy opening quarter, Marcelo Bosch sending a long range penalty narrowly wide and Keatley’s 12th-minute effort from closer in hitting the post.

The inrushing Andrew Conway knocked on as he attempted to gather the loose ball from Keatley’s missed kick, and Saracens survived thanks to a solid follow-up scrum.

The Limerick drizzle made for a greasy ball and the aerial route was understandably favoured by both sides. Munster had a rare sniff of the try-line when Murray wormed his way through after a maul was held up, but busy winger Conway (pictured below) was quickly closed down for a relieving Sarries penalty.

Keatley rewarded his pack for a ground-gaining maul by slotting the first points close to the half hour mark, a deserved lead given Munster’s territorial dominance.

The visitors should have been level following some forceful driving from their own pack, but Farrell’s lack of recent game-time was evident when he hooked a kickable penalty wide.

The England international made no such mistake with his second attempt, this time from the right, after Billy Vunipola had carried four times in a promising attacking spell.

Sarries drew confidence from a late Keatley penalty miss, and Alex Goode and Chris Ashton combined for a welcome midfield break early on the resumption.

Ashton grew in influence as the black shirts bludgeoned forward, however Munster relieved the pressure with a scrum penalty and some textbook tackling.

Gill’s 52nd-minute sin-binning – awarded for recklessly tipping CJ Stander over in an attempt to clear out a ruck – allowed Munster to hit back and Keatley booted them back in front.

A weaving run from Conway kept the hosts on the front foot, and Saracens could not hold out. Television match official Eric Gauzins denied Conway what seemed a legitimate try as he squeezed over in the right corner past David Strettle.

It was a stay of execution for Sarries, though, as Munster used the resulting penalty to power forward from a close-in lineout for replacement prop Kilcoyne to crash over. Keatley narrowly missed the difficult conversion.

Half-backs Keatley and Murray increased their influence with some pinpoint kicking, the former clipping over a drop goal (pictured below) from inside the 22 to stretch the lead to 11 points.

Kilcoyne won a scrum penalty which should have led to another three points but Keatley fluffed his lines, ending the night with a frustrating two-from-six return from the tee.

Savouring the victory afterwards, Conor Murray said: “The win last week got us out of jail and we had to put things right and get a good performance. I think we did that well tonight. Saracens like to put teams under pressure and we didn’t try to rush things or go for miracle plays.

“We played in the right areas of the pitch at the right time and got our reward. After the yellow card we got a penalty on the 10-metre line and got down into the 22.

“We converted a score from that and it gave us a huge lift. That allowed us to push on and we got another penalty on top of that – those 10 minutes were crucial.

“Sometimes Saracens can come back fighting, but we stuck in there and stayed with our game-plan and were patient. It’s about playing in the right areas with Ian and there is always a lot of kicking against the Saracens.

“So much so it can become a bit boring at times. But you can’t afford to get bored of it – you have to keep playing in the right areas and not force the play.”

The Ireland scrum half noted: “Dave’s try was testament to the strength in depth of our squad. He came on and knew the call straight away, so credit to him.”