Munster consolidated their place at the top of the GUINNESS PRO12 with a six-try 45-17 win over the Dragons in front of a capacity crowd at Irish Independent Park – the province’s seventh sell-out of the current season.
Tyler Bleyendaal and Doran Jones traded penalties before Jaco Taute crossed for his first try in Cork, doing so with 13 minutes played and bringing the vocal home crowd into the game.
They were given even more reason to cheer when Bleyendaal turned defence into attack in a move that Andrew Conway finished off sublimely with a quarter played. Taute then secured his brace before the half hour mark as Munster demonstrated a real clinical edge in attack.
A Rhys Buckley try late in the first half looked to keep the Dragons in touch but a penalty try for Munster on 40 minutes left the men of Gwent with an even steeper mountain to climb, trailing 31-10
Darren O’Shea was sent to the sin-bin on 55 minutes for a no-arms tackle and the Dragons took advantage, piling numbers into the maul for Elliot Dee to touch down.
But Munster’s reply was swift through Dave Kilcoyne and from there the outcome was never in doubt. Ronan O’Mahony continued his welcome habit of scoring tries for fun at Irish Independent Park and added further gloss to the scoreboard with Munster’s sixth touchdown in the final minute.
Applying all the early pressure, Munster threatened the Dragons on no less than three occasions before the first penalty came their way – Bleyendaal got things up and running on the scoreboard. It was a sign of things to come from the play-maker whose kicking was on-point all night, both from hand and off the tee (he landed seven kicks from seven attempts).
It was all too easy for the Dragons soon after, however, Tyler Morgan dancing through the Munster defence and into the 22 where last-ditch defence saw Munster infringe and allow Jones level matters on 11 minutes.
Looking threatening from the off, Rassie Erasmus’ men soon delivered on their promise, pummelling through the phases from right to left – Rhys Marshall making a couple of standout carries – before taking advantage of numbers left and there was no stopping Taute as he powered through a gap. Bleyendaal made it a full seven-point return.
The pick of the tries came on 19 minutes, Bleyendaal intercepting inside the Munster 22 and oozing class with a perfectly-weighted kick downfield where it was a foot-race between Jones and Andrew Conway, the latter winning it and dotting down for Munster’s second try. It was fitting that Bleyendaal, the try’s creator, slotted the extras.
Penalties were easy to come by for Munster as they continued to apply huge pressure on the Dragons, the hosts kicking to the corner each time. Making headway through the maul and subsequent phases, Taute ran another hard line at close range to the breakdown and barged over to secure his brace. Bleyendaal was again on target with the conversion.
The Dragons, in danger of losing sight of Munster, rallied and crossed through an impressive lineout maul on 35 minutes, hooker Buckley touching down, although credit must go to Munster’s valiant defence which kept the Welsh attack at bay for over ten minutes of relentless pressure along the try-line.
But the province gave the Dragons much to ponder in the dressing room at the interval as they bagged the bonus point try on the stroke of half-time.
Full-back Carl Meyer was sin binned for a deliberate knock-on as Munster attacked down the left flank after the in-form Rory Scannell was held up just short. With the assistance of TMO Neil Paterson, referee Mike Adamson deservedly awarded a penalty try and Bleyendaal added the easy two points for a 31-10 scoreline.
Munster failed to make the extra man count on the resumption, and instead it was the Dragons who made the most of their numerical advantage when O’Shea saw yellow. Like before, the Welsh region were clinical at maul time, replacement hooker Dee scoring on this occasion with Jones converting.
Comeback on? Far from it, as Munster immediately found themselves back in the opposition 22 and, going through the phases, Kilcoyne sniped over from close range, bringing his Irish Independent Park try tally to three for the season so far after scoring a brace against the Ospreys in November. Bleyendaal bisected the posts with the touchline conversion.
Sevens speedster Dan Goggin produced some sensational stepping down the right wing, only to be called back for a foot in touch after he crossed the whitewash, but Ronan O’Mahony did produce the icing on the cake in the final play, speeding through the tiring defence for yet another try on Leeside and his seventh of the current PRO12 campaign.
During the week of his 23rd birthday, excellent work around the pitch and at the breakdown saw Jack O’Donoghue named man-of-the-match. On the injury front, Erasmus confirmed that Conway and Dave Foley were both removed for head injury assessments, while Jean Kleyn is to be assessed further for a knock to his neck.
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