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Dreadful Dragons have no answers as Munster run in ten tries

By PA
(Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Munster were in complete control as they handed the Dragons a ten-try 64-3 defeat in the United Rugby Championship at Thomond Park. The home side sauntered into a 28-3 half-time lead, with young fly-half Jack Crowley converting tries from Craig Casey (two), captain Jack O’Donoghue and Chris Cloete. Sam Davies’ 16th-minute penalty proved to be the Welsh region’s only score on a deflating night for Dean Ryan’s men.

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With their bonus point secured by the 36th minute, Munster cruised home with further scores from Simon Zebo, Chris Farrell, Shane Daly, Cloete, replacement John Hodnett and O’Donoghue.

Ollie Griffiths got over the ball to break up Munster’s early momentum, but scrum-half Casey duly crossed in the ninth minute, breaking to the blindside of a maul and shrugging off Davies’ attempted tackle.

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The Dragons made good ground in response, Davies knocking over a close-range penalty before their own indiscipline brought Munster back into try-scoring range. Casey, who came off the Ireland bench last Sunday in the Guinness Six Nations win over Italy, squeezed in under Joe Maksymiw to complete his brace in the 22nd minute, and it got worse for the Dragons straight from the restart.

O’Donoghue evaded Aneurin Owen’s tap tackle to finish off a terrific team score from deep, with Crowley converting to make it 21-3. As the interval approached, Crowley’s inviting pass had John Ryan charging up into the visitors’ 22. Farrell then injected further pace, freeing up flanker Cloete to go over out wide.

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Crowley nailed the difficult conversion for good measure, the Dragons’ cause not helped by a miscued lineout and centre Owen’s injury-enforced departure. A forward pass denied Mike Haley a try on the resumption, but Zebo had a simple run-in after Casey’s quickly-taken penalty. Crowley missed the conversion and his opposite number Davies fluffed the restart, Haley hoovering it up to step inside Davies and feed Farrell for a muscular finish to the right of the posts.

Crisp offloading from Crowley, Gavin Coombes and Haley sent Daly over, and Casey’s whizzing pass soon handed Cloete his second of the night. Ben Healy converted Munster’s closing efforts from fellow replacement Hodnett, who finished off a slick move off a lineout, and O’Donoghue, who enjoyed another chance to stretch his legs.

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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T
Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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