Munster were denied a rare victory at Parc y Scarlets, as Steve Shingler stepped up to land two late penalties and guide the unbeaten Scarlets to the top of the GUINNESS PRO12.
Munster led by 13-6 at half-time thanks to two Ian Keatley penalties and a converted try from the in-form Andrew Conway. However, a second half fight-back, coupled with poor Munster discipline, allowed the Welsh side to stay in touch, and two closing penalties from the ice-cool Steve Shingler were enough to clinch a 25-22 triumph at the death.
With Anthony Foley’s men on the attack in the opening minutes, the Scarlets were unable to clear the ball from inside their 22 and a resulting Munster scrum penalty gave out-half Keatley the opportunity to open the scoring with a well-struck place-kick.
The Scarlets looked to reply but left two scoring chances behind, first with a missed penalty attempt, followed up by what looked set to be a certain try – only for a spilled ball from Shingler just before the line. Canadian international DTH van der Merwe made an initial scintillating break to open up the Munster defence, 20 minutes in.
It was the visitors who successfully executed the next scoring opportunity thanks to an impressive solo effort from full-back Conway. He followed up on his own kick chase from just outside the province’s 22 to dive over and ground the ball with his forearm. Following input from the TMO, the try was awarded and Keatley added the extras for a 10-0 scoreline.
Although Shingler kicked the Scarlets’ opening points in the 27th minute, the 10-point lead was restored just two minutes later with Keatley’s second successful penalty.
Keatley missed a drop goal effort soon after, and it was left to his opposite number to finish off the first half’s scoring. Munster were penalised for driving up in the scrum in the final play, with Shingler’s accurate kick reducing the arrears to seven points.
Wayne Pivac’s charges were first out of the blocks in the second period when the electric van der Merwe dotted down in the left corner and the Scarlets moved within two points. Shingler was off target with the conversion attempt and Munster held their advantage before Keatley made it a five-point game with his third penalty goal.
Nonetheless, the Welsh outfit managed to pull level in the 53rd minute when replacement Tom Williams pounced on a defensive error and touched down out wide following some consultation between referee Gary Conway and TMO Jon Mason.
The same player saw yellow moments later for a high tackle and in the meantime, Scarlets flanker Lewis Rawlins needed to be stretchered off.
Munster were unable to make their numerical advantage count, though, with the out-halves exchanging kicks during the sin-bin period. Keatley nailed a drop goal before Shingler sent a penalty over to level the sides once again (19-19) with 20 minutes remaining.
Keatley missed long range penalties either side of the drop goal, but he made no mistake when firing over a huge 50-metre penalty to put the men in black just in front heading into the closing minutes.
But the high-flying Scarlets had other ideas, and they had the final say with Shingler kicking two successive penatlies in the 77th and 82nd minutes as Munster lost their discipline at a key stage. The match-winning kick was a monster strike under huge pressure with the clock deep in red.
Meanwhile, Tyler Bleyendaal was a late withdrawal from the Munster team after pulling up with a tight quad during the warm-up. Keatley started at number 10 with Rory Scannell added to the bench.
It was young flanker Jordan Coghlan’s first start for the province, while Ronan O’Mahony saw his first action of the season coming on in the second half for right winger Stephen Fitzgerald.
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