Late Surge Sends Munster Into Second

Munster moved into second place in the RaboDirect PRO12 thanks to a smash and grab 10-point victory over the Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade.

It was a win that owed much to the resilience of a side who are learning to roll with the punches and keep going right to the bitter end.

Munster accumulated 15 points in the closing 13 minutes with young backs Luke O’Dea and Felix Jones helping themselves to tries, and Scott Deasy kicking a conversion and a penalty.

Tony McGahan’s men, captained by Mick O’Driscoll who was making his 200th appearance for the province, did well to be only 11-9 behind at the break.

Ian Keatley and Lewis Robling swapped penalties in the opening quarter before the Dragons moved 8-3 ahead thanks to a tremendous breakaway try from centre Ashley Smith.

He followed up on a fantastic slashing run from full-back Will Harries who covered 50 metres before passing for Smith to ghost over to the right of the posts.

Two more penalties from the boot of Keatley saw Munster retake the lead at 9-8. The try deadlock remained unbroken amid a spate of andling errors and stubborn defending, and it was left to Robling to nose his side back in front for half-time.

If there was a turning point in this high octance, edge of the seat clash, it came fifteen minutes into the second half when the home side squandered a three-on-two overlap that should have yielded a crucial try at a stage when they led by five points.

But credit Munster’s tigerish defence who survived that and a subsequent assault on their try-line with 14 players after scrum half Tomas O’Leary was yellow carded for infringing at the breakdown.

The Dragons were leading 14-9, courtesy of another Robling penalty, when replacement Denis Hurley’s smashing break only ended when he was hauled down ten metres out, in front of the posts.

Ducan Williams was able to get quick ball from the ensuing ruck. He swept the ball to the right and fellow replacement Scott Deasy’s long arcing pass found O’Dea on the wing and once again he showed his try-scoring instincts by diving low to score at the corner flag.

Deasy missed the difficult conversion but then booted a monster penalty, with replacements BJ Botha and Billy Holland adding to the tireless efforts of debutant Savenaca Tokula and James Coughlan.

With five minutes to go full-back Jones, who was superb all night, raced onto a loose ball in midfield to tear in under the posts for the score that sealed Munster’s first success at Rodney Parade in three years.

Munster’s sixth consecutive win in all competitions has moved them above the Ospreys in the league standings, following the Welsh side’s slip up at home to Glasgow Warriors.

McGahan’s charges sit on 51 points and have a game in hand on table toppers Leinster, who boast 63 points and have to travel to Thomond Park at the end of the month.