Jack Crowley inspires Munster to vital victory over Cardiff

Munster 20 Cardiff Rugby 15 

A superb second-half solo try by Jack Crowley rescued Saturday evening’s URC clash for Munster against Cardiff at Thomond Park, just as the game seemed to be slipping away from Graham Rowntree’s side.

Munster had clear intentions of keeping the ball alive in front of their own fans, but a combination of attacking errors and some brilliant defensive play by the impressive Cardiff back row of Alex Mann, Ellis Jenkins and Mackenzie Martin ensured that there was little to shout about early on, with openside John Hodnett having a try in the left corner on the 20-minute mark chalked off due to there being a knock on by full-back Mike Haley in the build-up.

Down the other end, Jenkins and Ben Donnell made dangerous breaks through the Munster defence, but both ran out of options and the respective attacks fizzled out, and the Munster handling errors seemed to only increase as we crept past the half-hour mark with the game still scoreless.

A huge Gavin Coombes turnover engineered a penalty for Munster 40m from the Cardiff posts in the 38th minute and Crowley split the posts to belatedly get the scoreboard moving, although fittingly the half ended with Munster knocking on while attempting to carve Cardiff open, with the home side leading just 3-0 at the break.

You would have expected that there would have been some stern words spoken in the Munster dressing room, and there was a tangible upping of tempo levels upon the restart.

The Munster maul had a few bites at the Cardiff line before Munster finally breached the try-line when captain Tadhg Beirne blaster over from close range in the 49th minute, much to the relief of the Munster faithful.

Munster were chipping away at Cardiff inside their 22, in the 55th minute, when a loose flat pass by Casey was intercepted by Ben Thomas, and the centre had the gas to get home 90m down the other end, to ensure the game was right back in the melting pot.

Munster looked in a right spot of bother when John Ryan was sent to the bin for a dangerous tip tackle in the 59th minute, and almost immediately Cardiff took advantage of their numerical advantage to drive over from the resultant maul courtesy of flanker Thomas Young.

Munster needed a big play and they got it when Crowley danced around five Cardiff defenders before powering over in the 65th minute to dot down for a superb try to get Munster back in front.

Crowley then landed another penalty in the 75th minute after a deliberate Cardiff knock-on to give Munster a two-score lead, and while Jacob Beetham reduced the gap to five with a 79th-minute long-range penalty, Munster saw it out.

Scorers for Munster: J Crowley (1 try, 2 pens, 2 cons), T Beirne (1 try).

Cardiff: T de Beer (1 con), J Beetham (1 pen), B Thomas, T Young (1 try).

MUNSTER: M Haley; S O'Brien, A Frisch, A Nankivell, S Daly; J Crowley, C Casey; J Loughman, N Scannell, S Archer; T Ahern, T Beirne (capt); P O'Mahony, J Hodnett, G Coombes. 

Subs: J Carbery for A Nankivell (57), J Ryan for S Archer (58), J Wycherley and E Clarke for J Loughman and N Scannell (65), S Zebo for M Haley (72), J Daly and E Coughlan for P O’Mahony and C Casey (75).

CARDIFF: C Winnett; O Lane, M Grady, B Thomas, J Adams; T de Beer, E Bevan; C Domachowski, L Belcher (capt), K Assiratti; B Donnell, S Davies; A Mann, E Jenkins, M Martin.

Subs: R Carré for C Domachowski (49), T Young for E Jenkins (51), T Cabango for O Lane (57), M Aubrey for E Bevan (61), E Lloyd, W Davies-King and R Thornton for L Belcher, K Assiratti and S Davies (65), J Beetham for T de Beer (78).

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).