Munster sweep aside Gloucester to bounce back in Champions Cup

Craig Casey starred as Munster swept aside an inexperienced Gloucester side 31-3 after bursting into life in the second half of their Champions League clash in Cork.

An ugly first-half that was full of errors ended with the hosts holding a 7-3 lead after Dan Kelly had crossed in the 21st minute.

But with scrum-half Casey acting as the catalyst, they found their rhythm to conjure further tries for Mike Haley, Ruadhan Quinn, Tom Farrell and Tadhg Beirne.

Munster finished with a bang and benefited from yellow cards shown to Gloucester’s Jamal Ford-Robinson and Caio James in each half.

Ford-Robinson was sin-binned for a dangerous clear-out and James saw yellow for going off his feet.

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It was the reaction the Irish province were looking for after being demolished 40-14 by Bath at the Recreation Ground on the opening weekend.

Meanwhile, Champions Cup holders Bordeaux overpowered Scarlets 50-21 as they scored five first-half tries in a dominant win at Stade Chaban-Delmas.

The Welsh side, edged out by Bristol last weekend, had taken an early lead from Fletcher Anderson’s try before Bordeaux hit back through Matthieu Jalibert, who made the conversion himself.

Bordeaux – aiming for a 10th consecutive Champions Cup win – then took control with tries from captain Jefferson Poirot, Gaetan Barlot and a second for Jalibert on the counter-attack to secure a bonus point.

Although Henry Thomas barged over for Scarlets after 29 minutes, Bordeaux extended their lead to 31-14 when South Africa’s Tiaan Jacobs touched down just before half-time.

The French outfit, who beat Bulls last weekend, continued their momentum in the second half as Pablo Uberti touched down in the corner for a sixth try just ahead of the hour.

Anderson then scored his second try of the night before Xan Mousques powered over and winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey touched down to complete an impressive display from the French side.