By Etienne Turpin
On a chilly Friday night in Swansea, Munster came out on top in an entertaining affair with a bonus point win. Three tries inside 20 minutes from Daly and two from O’Brien saw the Irish province claim a 19-0 lead and despite a brave comeback, the Ospreys were unable to save their run of 5 successive home victories.
It was Munster who got off to a flying start in Swansea when they won an early scrum penalty. From the resulting penalty they shifted the ball out wide and Shane Daly sprinted away to score in the corner. Carbery nailed the conversion from the sideline.
And they soon adding to their early try as Sean O’Brien intercepted a pass on halfway and shrugged off the tackle from Giles to slide away in the corner. Carbery’s conversion went just wide, but Munster had a 12-point lead after just seven minutes.
The Ospreys almost hit back straight away when a clever kick in behind from Morgan Morris gave Giles a chance, but Craig Casey showed great pace to beat the winger to the ball. The home side kept on applying pressure deep inside the Munster 22 but great defence resulted in a penalty when the Ospreys went off their feet.
But history repeated itself again as O’Brien once again intercepted a pass deep inside his half, he found himself one on one with Iestyn Hopkins but his delightful kick along the touchline stayed in play the Ospreys made a mess and the winger dotted the ball down for their third try in 20 minutes. This time, Carbery nailed the conversion to give Munster a 19-0 lead.
The Ospreys were penalised in the first scrum of the game but demolished the Munster pack with a strong drive. Owen Williams then found touch just five metres from the Munster line but despite a strong initial drive, the Munster defence managed to repel the Ospreys attack and turn the ball over.
The Ospreys were forced into an early change as Nicky Smith was forced off and was replaced by Rhys Henry. Smith just signed for Leicester Tigers for the 2024/25 season.
The Ospreys were finally rewarded for all their possession as quick hands amongst the backs saw Boshoff break clear before slipping a fancy offload to Williams who ran a lovely line before freeing Giles who was on his outside and had a simple run in. The conversion attempt from Williams came off the post and the scores remained 19-5 to Munster.
But Munster regrouped themselves and almost secured their bonus point when a beautiful flat pass from Carbery saw Hodnett race down the pitch. Munster kept possession and the Ospreys found themselves down to 14 when Tipuric was sin binned for too many infringements. But despite Munster looking threatening and a sublime offload from Snyman, the Ospreys managed to win a penalty and settled with the 14 point deficit as they kicked the ball out for Half Time.
The Ospreys dominated the game at the start of the second half and despite five minutes of intense rain, the game remained fluid and they were eventually rewarded when a driving maul from close range powered itself over and Sam Parry was able to get the ball down. Owen Williams was successful with the conversion as they Ospreys narrowed the gap to just seven points.
But the bonus point was secured for Munster as intense pressure deep inside the Ospreys half was rewarded when the two-time world cup winner RG Snyman crashed over. The big lock played an influential part in the game and his offloading game was on point. Carbery had a simple conversion, but his effort hit the post.
And Munster extended their lead to 15 points soon after when Carbery nailed a penalty from 40 metres. With the bonus point already secured, the decision to take the shot at goal was a no-brainer.
With just over five minutes left to play, Alex Cuthbert crashed over to reduce the margin to 10 points. The Ospreys spent several phases inside the Munster half and eventually got their reward. Owen Williams’ conversion went wide but the Ospreys still had time to find a bonus point.
Astonishingly, the Ospreys didn’t manage to get their fourth try despite Cam Jones making a break. He gave it to Cuthbert who would’ve had a simple run in but pulled up injured just metres from the try line. The Ospreys had a penalty advantage and with time running out, Williams tried to find the corner but kicked the ball dead. And that was that for the Ospreys who fell to a 27-17 defeat at home to Munster, ending their long unbeaten streak at home.
Ospreys: 17
TRIES: 3 (Giles 34’, Parry 53’, Cuthbert)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (Williams 54’)
PENALTIES:
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Tipuric 40’)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Iestyn Hopkins, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. Evardi Boshoff, 12. Keiran Williams, 11. Keelan Giles, 10. Owen Williams, 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams, 1. Ethan Lewis, 2. Sam Parry, 3. Tom Botha, 4. James Ratti, 5. Rhys Davies, 6. Jeandré Rudolph, 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Morgan Morris.
16. Lewis Lloyd, 17. Garyn Phillips, 18. Rhys Henry, 19. Huw Sutton, 20. Harri Deaves, 21. Cam Jones, 22. Jack Walsh, 23. Owen Watkin
Munster: 27
TRIES: 4 (Daly 4’, O’Brien 6’, 18’, Snyman 58’)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (Carbery 5’, 19’)
PENALTIES: 1 (Carbery 64’)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0
15. Mike Haley, 14. Sean O’Brien, 13. Antoine Frisch,12. Rory Scannell, 11. Shane Daly, 10. Joey Carbery, 9. Craig Casey, 1. Josh Wycherley, 2. Niall Scannell, 3. John Ryan, 4. Thomas Ahern, 5. RG Snyman, 6. John Hodnett, 7. Alex Kendellen, 8. Gavin Coombes.
16. Eoghan Clarke, 17. Jeremy Loughman, 18. Stephen Archer, 19. Jack O’Donoghue, 20. Rudhán Quinn, 21. Ethan Coughlan, 22. Tony Butler, 23. Shay McCarthy.
Five Talking Points: Ospreys 17-27 Munster
- Ospreys unbeaten run at home ends.
After winning their last five home games, the Ospreys finally fell to a home defeat as Munster punished the home side with three early tries. Two interceptions proved costly as the Ospreys were unable to fight back.
2. Blistering start for Munster.
It was game over already after just 20 minutes when three tries gave Munster a 19-0 lead. It all started in the fourth minute when they scored off first phase on the back of a driving maul before the backs finished the job. Sean O’Brien then scored from two interceptions, getting a bit fortunate with his second finish.
3. Agonising end for Cuthbert.
The winger gave his side hope when he crashed over for the Ospreys’ third try of the game, reducing the lead to 10 points but should’ve gotten his second try minutes later but pulled up short, metres from the line as he pulled him hamstring. Disappointing for the winger who only recently came back from injury.
4. Attendance worries?
Despite Wales struggling in the Six Nations, the Ospreys had been on a fine run of form until their recent defeat to Edinburgh in Scotland. Although it was a cold night in Swansea, it was announced that just under 4000 fans were in attendance.
5. Munster keep close to Leinster.
A third successive URC win for Munster sees them narrow the gap with leaders Leinster to just five points. Leinster still have a game in hand and face Zebre next.