Munster finished their European Champions Cup campaign with a flourish thanks to a four-try 28-5 bonus point win over Benetton Treviso in Italy this afternoon.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: BENETTON TREVISO 5 MUNSTER 28
It was a memorable occasion for man-of-the-match Ronan O’Mahony who scored his first two European tries, with Dave Kilcoyne and Conor Murray also touching down.
Ian Keatley landed the four conversions in a convincing victory as Munster defeated the Italian outfit for the third time this season.
With a sizeable travelling contingent in the stands, Anthony Foley’s men made the perfect start with their first try after just five minutes. Keatley kicked them deep into Treviso territory down the left flank after a scrum penalty and Donnacha Ryan took Mike Sherry’s accurate lineout.
The forwards made little headway in the maul, so Murray decided to feed onrushing winger O’Mahony who burst through for his maiden score in the tournament which Keatley converted.
Munster were nearly in again shortly afterwards after a speedy breakaway led by Keith Earls, but Tommy O’Donnell’s pass to Simon Zebo went forward and the chance went a-begging.
Treviso then missed a penalty after Billy Holland was pinged at the breakdown as Jayden Hayward’s effort drifted just wide.
The quick-thinking Francis Saili then caught Treviso unawares with the restart and he raced as far as the halfway line before releasing to Earls. The ball was eventually worked left and the visitors were nearly in again, but O’Mahony’s pass inside to Murray was forward.
Munster were not to be denied in the 16th minute, however, as prop Kilcoyne scored the second try from close range. The touchdown came from a slick lineout move as Dave Foley took Sherry’s throw with Keatley darting through a gap. Zebo was held up just short but play was brought back for a high tackle on O’Donnell and Kilcoyne just about reached the line after another quick tap, with Keatley converting.
Treviso fought back strongly towards the end of the half and were rewarded with their first score on 37 minutes. Munster were down to 14 men at the time after Holland was sin-binned for his part in halting a Treviso maul, and the hosts’ forwards took full advantage to maul over in the right corner with Marco Lazzaroni touching down.
Munster captain and Ireland call-up CJ Stander saw his try ruled out by the TMO for a knock on early in the second period after more superb Munster work off a lineout.
Once again though, the men in red made the pressure pay shortly afterwards as Murray brilliantly ghosted through a gap in the hosts’ defence after Ryan took another accurate Sherry lineout. Keatley converted to make it 21-5, much to the delight of the travelling Munster support.
The next score was going to be crucial and the hosts were determined to get back into the game but were repelled by some resilient Munster defence.
The win was wrapped up on 66 minutes as replacement James Cronin gained good yardage in midfield. Niall Scannell then passed to Jack O’Donoghue who picked a superb line to slice through the defence and he floated a great ball out to O’Mahony for the bonus point try in the left corner.
Keatley’s conversion made it 28-5 and that is how it stayed with the Munster players quick to salute the fans who made the journey south, at the full-time whistle.
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