Munster Overwhelmed By Warriors As Winning Run Comes To An End

Munster tasted defeat for the first time this season as Glasgow Warriors claimed a 37-10 bonus point win in stylish fashion at Scotstoun Stadium tonight.

Both Rory Scannell and Chris Farrell scored tries for Rassie Eramsus’ side, but Glasgow dominated throughout and tries from Leonardo Sarto, Lee Jones, Nick Grigg and Scott Cummings gave the hosts a deserved victory.

The win sees the Warriors take over at the top of Conference A in the GUINNESS PRO14, while well-beaten Munster remain in second place, four points back from the new leaders.

Despite the injury-enforced loss of Rory Hughes in the second minute, Glasgow were not unduly weakened by the introduction of Sarto on the wing, and it was the Italian flyer who broke the deadlock with a well-finished try in the fourth minute. Man-of-the-match Finn Russell was on the mark with the conversion for a 7-0 scoreline.

A powerful jackal from Jones forced Farrell into the concession of a 10th minute penalty and again Russell was on target to stretch the lead out to 10-0. Two minutes later Munster gained their most significant territory of the game to date when Tyler Bleyendaal kicked a penalty to the corner. Tommy O’Donnell, on the loop, was stopped short, but a few phases later the ball was switched right again and Darren Sweetnam sent Scannell over for a try.

Bleyendaal’s touchline conversion crept inches wide and the New Zealander was also off target from the tee short of the half hour mark. At the other end, Munster’s lineout defence had to be sharp to deny Glasgow from close range when Billy Holland did well to steal.

However, the visitors leaked a further 10 points in the lead up to half-time. The increasingly influential Russell booted a penalty goal when Munster infringed at a lineout, and worse followed two minutes later when the Scots broke from deep through Callum Gibbins and Jones finished a wonderful breakaway try for a 20-5 interval advantage.

The loss of Jack O’Donoghue (HIA) and Sean O’Connor (neck) in the first half meant early introductions for Fineen Wycherley and Robin Copeland, yet Munster’s hopes took another blow four minutes after the break when Holland was yellow carded for pulling down a rolling maul.

A minute later, Dave Rennie’s men made their numbers tell when Grigg scored in the right corner, while Russell’s conversion made it 27-5. That effectively sealed the result for Glasgow, who were particularly fired up for this encounter after losing four times to Munster last season.

The Munstermen were somewhat fortunate to hit back immediately when Farrell intercepted George Turner’s pass – Scannell was off target with the conversion – and shortly afterwards Russell tapped over a straightforward penalty to keep the scoreboard moving for the home side.

17 minutes from the end, the Warriors bagged their bonus point when Sarto’s good work was finished off by Cummings, while Munster youngster Wycherley was sent off in the closing stages for dangerous play at the ruck – a shoulder to the head of a prone Tim Swinson.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Munster director of rugby Erasmus said: “We made a decision not to bring a few of our major players, but to bring the young boys and see how they react. I am sure they learned a lot about how to handle a situation like this but I’m also sure that when we get the likes of Conor Murray, back we will go forward and do better.

“It is good to see the young boys in a situation like this, you always learn a lot. Glasgow were really good on the night and to score four tries to two is testament to how well they played. Well done to them, we were not in the game.

“We were under pressure from the beginning. We lost two loose forwards in the first 20 minutes. Billy (Holland) had to go on the flank and young Fineen into the second row. Then Billy got a yellow card.

“We were under pressure and did not handle that pressure well – like the previous four games where Glasgow did not handle the pressure well and we beat them four games in a row. This time they did it to us, so well done to them. The only area where we competed was in the scrum. Apart from that, we were really outplayed on the night.”

Meanwhile, Munster have confirmed that second row Mark Flanagan will join the province from Saracens on a three-month loan deal. The former Leinster player has also had spells with Mont-de-Marsan in the French Pro D2 and Bedford Blues in the English Championship.

The Westmeath man, who is 28, joined Saracens last season, making 11 appearances for them in the Aviva Premiership. He will link up with his new Munster team-mates early next week.