Munster slay Dragons to maintain unbeaten Pro14 record
Munster maintained their unbeaten record in this season’s Guinness Pro14 league as they beat the Dragons 28-16 at Rodney Parade.
Two tries from fullback Matt Gallagher and one by wing Calvin Nash, along with three penalties and two conversions from outside-half JJ Hanrahan, were enough to keep Munster top of Conference B.
The home side’s points came from outside-half Sam Davies with a try and two penalties, plus a try from lock Matthew Screech on his 50th appearance for the Welsh region.
Dragons were briefly ahead when Davies landed an early penalty but, from then on, Munster dominated vast periods of the game.
The Irishmen, who had beaten Cardiff Blues 38-27 the previous week, put the home side under pressure for the opening 25 minutes and notched up 18 points in the process.
Hanrahan booted a simple penalty from 30 metres out to level matters before Gallagher was put away by flanker John Hodnett with a slight of hand in the right corner. It came a few moments after a blistering dash into the Dragons 22 from scrum-half Craig Casey.
Another Hanrahan penalty and a conversion of Nash’s touchdown, which came when wing Darren Sweetnam caught a kick to the left and popped the pass to his team-mate, had Munster well clear.
But the Dragons, who had won one of their three Conference A matches this season, against Italians Zebre, found something in their locker and managed a touchdown before half-time.
Captain Williams, with a penalty advantage, lifted a kick close to the Munster line over the defence. Lewis challenged Hanrahan for the ball but, when it ran loose inside the Irish try area, Davies pounced.
A second Davies penalty, conceded 25 metres out by Munster number eight Gavin Coombes who was deliberately offside, chipped the Dragons deficit down to seven points.
But Munster increased their lead again when Hanrahan booted a penalty, seconds after a skilful pass behind his back from hooker Kevin O’Byrne to Nash.
Sweetnam thought he had scored twice only for both his touchdowns to be ruled out by TMO Jon Mason for infringements.
Munster’s relentless possession and territorial advantage, coupled with the Dragons errors when they had a foothold in the opposition half, saw the Irishmen comfortably keep the home side at bay.
Finally, Munster crossed for a third try which sealed the match as attacking line-out ball was whisked across the back division. Casey, Hanrahan and centre Damian de Allende put Gallagher in for his second of the match.
Screech’s last-minute try was nothing more than a consolation for the beaten Dragons.
Comments on RugbyPass
Absolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
97 Go to commentsHo hum.
97 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
97 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
97 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
97 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
97 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
97 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
97 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
97 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
97 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
97 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
3 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
97 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to comments