Munster Make It Two From Two

Converted tries either side of the interval from Niall Ronan and Simon Zebo did most of the damage as Munster beat Glasgow Warriors to continue their winning start to the RaboDirect PRO12 campaign.

It was a landmark win for Munster as it represented their 12th consecutive victory, which is a new RaboDirect PRO12 record. Leinster had the previous best run, with an 11-match winning streak between 2001 and 2002.

Tony McGahan’s charges laid the foundations for this result in the first half at Firhill Stadium. Man-of-the-match Ian Keatley kicked three penalties and converted a late try from Niall Ronan, who had earlier been sin-binned.

Four minutes into the second half, Simon Zebo finished off a sustained spell of Munster pressure with the second converted try.

Two penalties in quick succession from Duncan Weir closed the gap for Glasgow to 23-12, with half an hour left on the clock.

The final quarter saw the home side mount a series of attacks but they were met by fierce Munster resistance. The visitors’ committed defending frustrated the Warriors time and again and drew plaudits from McGahan after the game.

The result saw them follow up on their 20-12 defeat of the Newport Gwent Dragons from six days ago. Stand-in captain Peter O’Mahony was prominent throughout, especially as a ground-gaining ball carrier.

Mick O’Driscoll, James Coughlan and John Hayes were also part of a strong overall display from the pack.

There was little to choose between the sides in the opening quarter, Keatley and Weir planting penalties through the posts after eight and ten minutes respectively.

Glasgow pushed ahead on the quarter hour. Danny Barnes did well to bring down Rob Dewey close to the try-line but flanker Ronan was then yellow carded for killing the ball. Weir landed the resulting penalty for a 6-3 scoreline.

Munster hit back six minutes later, with Keatley squaring things up to punish Glasgow openside Chris Fusaro for his yellow card offence (not rolling away).

Weir watched a drop goal attempt smack back off an upright as Glasgow failed to turn their pressure into points, and there were further misses from both place-kickers as half-time approached.

The otherwise impressive Johne Murphy was whistled up for a dangerous tackle on Weir, however the 20-year-old out-half’s penalty attempt was off target.

Keatley, who kicked 10 points against the Newport Gwent Dragons last week, was back to his accurate best when he thumped over a monster penalty from inside his own half with five minutes left before the break.

Munster maintained their foothold in the Glasgow half and built some promising phases on the back of a midfield break from Barnes.

Their persistence was rewarded when a quick tap penalty caught the Scottish side off guard and Ronan made it over for his first try of the season. Keatley’s successful conversion sent his side into the dressing room with a 10-point buffer.

It got even better for the men in red when the busy Peter Stringer sent Lifeimi Mafi scampering away, following a maul from the province’s forwards.

The Glasgow cover got to Mafi within sight of the try-line, but the centre was able to get his pass to Zebo who finished off for his third try in 12 league games.

Keatley added the extras and although Weir knocked over a brace of second half penalties and Billy Holland saw yellow for killing the ball, Munster managed to close out their seventh victory on the trot over Scottish opposition.