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Simon Zebo dots down twice as another South African side stumbles

By PA
Simon Zebo scores for Munster. (Photo By Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Simon Zebo marked his Munster return with two tries in a 42-17 United Rugby Championship victory over Sharks at Thomond Park.

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The Cork man, who moved back from Racing 92 in the summer, romped clear in the fifth minute, with further tries from Craig Casey and Gavin Coombes leaving it 20-3 at half-time.

Young number eight Coombes completed his brace in the 50th minute – sealing the bonus point – before Henry ‘Boeta’ Chamberlain lifted the Sharks with an intercepted effort.

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Although Yaw Penxe also sliced through for a classy score, Munster added a late gloss with replacement Chris Cloete and Zebo both crossing to add to a Ben Healy penalty.

The Sharks had nothing to show for their early dominance of possession – Curwin Bosch missed a penalty – and Munster stung them with an unconverted try against the run of play.

Zebo snapped up a loose offload and embarked on a 50-metre run-in down the left touchline, with Werner Kok unable to reel him in.

Munster applied pressure in the 25th minute, the visitors leaking a series of penalties, only for Thomas du Toit to rip the ball away, allowing the South Africans to clear the danger.

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However, the former Munster prop saw yellow soon after, having infringed at a ruck, and Joey Carbery mopped up the three points for an 8-0 scoreline.

Bosch cancelled out that kick, rewarding a purposeful run from captain Phepsi Buthelezi, but Munster duly pushed on and took advantage of du Toit’s absence as Casey used a dummy to score from a close-in scrum.

A late bout of pressure from the Munster pack had Coombes burrowing over for Carbery to convert.

 

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The second half was a stop-start affair but Munster bagged their bonus point when Coombes struck from two metres out.

Carbery added his second conversion before his floated pass was picked off by Chamberlain for the South Africans’ opening try of the competition.

In response to a monster Healy penalty, Penxe’s pacy finish – from a terrific Jeremy Ward offload – showed the Sharks’ attacking spark.

Nonetheless, Munster slammed the door shut with Cloete driving low for the line in the 77th minute, followed by Zebo’s classy closer two minutes later.

While the weekend got off to a promising start for the Springbok-less South African sides, with the Lions recording a 38-26 away win over Zebre, the Sharks became the third team out of the republic to suffer a loss at the hands of their European opposition in the inaugural round of the URC.

Rainbow Cup champions Benetton secured a narrow 22-18 victory over the Stormers, Leinster thrashed the Bulls 31-3 and Munster’s 42-17 victory has capped off a less than savoury opening weekend for South Africa, whose national side fell 19-17 to the All Blacks in Australia.

– with AP

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Trevor 1 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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Bull Shark 5 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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