Munster injury further sours bad night for Queensland in Perth
Cameron Munster could miss Queensland’s State of Origin series decider after hurting his shoulder in their heavy Perth defeat.
The Maroons five-eighth will have scans on his left shoulder on Monday after a collision early in the second half of their 44-12 loss at Optus Stadium rendered him a “passenger”.
Game three is in Brisbane on July 13, Munster was unable to say with any confidence that he’ll be fit to play in what looms as a monster setback for coach Billy Slater.
“I was a bit of a passenger out there (after the injury),” Munster said.
“My body’s not holding up as good as I’d like it to be, but fingers crossed I can get myself right.
“I’ll get a scan tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”
Munster was man-of-the-match in Sydney’s 16-10 win but was nullified by a dominant NSW pack that allowed Blues’ halfback Nathan Cleary to thrive.
If Munster isn’t fit to play it could pave the way for North Queensland playmaker Tom Dearden’s debut, or the versatile Ben Hunt could be shifted from hooker to partner Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves.
Queensland had led 12-8 late in the first half before a string of penalties led to Felise Kaufusi’s sin-binning and a Brian To’o try.
Weight of possession and territory – NSW enjoyed 71 per cent territory and had 33 tackles inside Queensland’s 20m zone to the Maroons’ six – eventually told in a five-try second half.
“Everything (went wrong) by the looks of it, a bit of a flogging,” Munster said.
“We matched it in the first half, felt we were the better side, but momentum changed and their little moments turned into big moments.”
Cleary scored twice and set up two tries, while his in-game kicking tormented Queensland’s young wingers Murray Taulagi and Selwyn Cobbo.
“In the first game he wasn’t up to par for himself, is what he said, and obviously proved his critics wrong tonight,” Munster said.
“He’s a good quality player … but we made him look good.
“We gave him too much time and space and someone like that, nine times out of 10 they’ll take their opportunity.”
Second-gamer Jeremiah Nanai also missed a one-on-one tackle on Jarome Luai that led to a try, coach Slater admitting most Queensland players would be reflecting on costly errors as he weighs up the possibility of changes.
“I’m not going to bag out my teammates,” Munster said of suggestions their forward pack were soundly beaten.
“We were all poor, need to be better. We had a great opportunity to seal the series and we fell short.”
Comments on RugbyPass
wel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments