Munster fell to their first defeat of the season as Conference A rivals Glasgow Warriors continued their formidable home record at a sold-out Scotstoun Sitadium with a 25-10 win.
An impressive first half performance from the wind-backed hosts was the bedrock of the victory, with Munster a full 22 points down after 40 minutes and their captain Billy Holland and scrum half Neil Cronin both sidelined through injury.
Munster’s play improved in the second period with reserve hooker Rhys Marshall touching down, while JJ Hanrahan and his replacement Joey Carbery kicking the other points, but the visitors left themselves with way too much to do.
Glasgow, who edged out Connacht in Galway last Saturday, started very strongly with the wind behind them and having missing an earlier effort, scrum half Peter Horne made no mistake with his second penalty attempt on 14 minutes to make it 3-0.
After an extended spell of pressure, the Scots scored their first try through Callum Gibbins in the 22nd minute as their Kiwi co-captain touched down in the corner from a floated Adam Hastings pass. Horne could not convert from the touchline but Munster were dealt an injury blow minute later as Holland departed with Fineen Wycherley introduced.
The Warriors were looking to turn the screw and turned down the opportunity to kick at goal. Although the Munster pack did very well to stop the subsequent maul, man-of-the-match Hastings was again the architect as he chipped the ball in behind the defence and Stuart Hogg got the touchdown for Glasgow’s second try. Hogg converted and Glasgow led 15-0 after half-an-hour’s play.
A second Munster injury saw Cronin depart after 35 minutes with Duncan Williams entering the fray. The possesion and territory-starved visitors would have been content with a 15-point deficit but the task awaiting them in the second half grew even bigger.
A slip from out-half Hanrahan at the worst possible time allowed Glasgow number 8 Adam Ashe through to score try number three and Hogg’s conversion gave Dave Rennie’s men a 22-0 half-time lead. Tadhg Beirne came on for his Munster debut at the start of the closing 40 minutes, along with Stephen Archer in the front row.
A scrum penalty gave Hanrahan his first shot at goal after 43 minutes and the Kerry native made no mistake to get Munster off the mark. Carbery was sprung from the bench to add some creative spark to a Munster side that as already looking much better than their first half showing.
A strong break from the tenacious Sam Arnold got the province into the hosts’ 22 but his offload went into Glasgow hands. Trailing by 19 points, Munster were desperate to get the all-important next try and when a high tackle went in on Mike Haley, Carbery pumped the penalty into the corner. Having won the lineout, Munster proceeded to pummel the Glasgow line with the hosts defending expertly and a Munster knock-on ended the move.
Academy back Shane Daly led the charge for the next Munster attack but another fumble allowed Glasgow to break through Hogg and Darren Sweetnam had to race back and clear. Williams then released Beirne for a run through the Glasgow defence but when Munster were pinged at the breakdown, another attack was over with the deficit still standing at 19 points as the clock ticked past the hour mark.
Fit-again centre Jaco Taute came off the bench to make a welcome return from his long-term knee injury and Munster finally got the try their efforts deserved on 69 minutes. Williams and James Cronin combined to set up the score with Marshall scoring and Carbery knocking the conversion over quickly to reduce the deficit to 22-10.
Nonetheless, a Glasgow penalty at the breakdown two minutes later ended the game as a contest with Hogg’s successful place-kick making it a 15-point winning margin. The result and manner of the performance leaves Munster with plenty to work on ahead of the visit of the Ospreys to Irish Independent Park next Friday (kick-off 7.35pm).
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