Connacht win 18-12 at Munster in Guinness PRO12
Last Updated: 30/11/15 9:58am
Bundee Aki scored a superb late try to give Connacht an 18-12 win over Munster - their first victory over their Irish rivals at Thomond Park since 1986.
Connacht had taken an early lead but Munster edged their way back into Saturday evening's match and a late penalty try and a yellow card for John Muldoon set up a nervous finale for Pat Lam's men.
However, some brilliant play from Aki saw him dive over in the corner to secure an historic win that retains Connacht's lead at the top of the PRO12 table
Pat Lam's men played almost all of the rugby in the first half, their execution and intensity far superior to Munster's, as Tiernan O'Halloran's opportunist 17th-minute try gave them a deserved 10-5 interval lead.
Munster, who answered back with a Niall Scannell maul try, made notable improvements to their play in the third quarter, but a 33-metre penalty from Craig Ronaldson edged Connacht further in front.
The westerners then suffered the double blow of a 65th-minute penalty try and a sin-binning for their captain John Muldoon for pulling back Andrew Conway in a try-scoring situation.
However, Lam's side showed impressive resilience in defence before Robbie Henshaw's excellent offload out of a tackle sent Aki through for the clinching five-pointer.
In a lively opening, opposing Kiwi centres Aki and Francis Saili both made breaks and the Connacht forwards were prominent, showing impressive footwork with ball in hand. Chief amongst them was lock Aly Muldowney, who was superb throughout.
The westerners' sparky half-backs AJ MacGinty and Kieran Marmion almost created a try for Ultan Dillane, who was just held up close to the Munster line. The opening points came three minutes later, with Ronaldson punishing a high tackle from Donnacha Ryan for 3-0.
Munster missed 11 tackles in the opening 14 minutes and 22 by the interval - one of those defensive lapses saw hooker Scannell allow O'Halloran clean through for his try just to the right of the posts. Ronaldson's conversion made it 10-0.
Munster were quick to respond, kicking for the corner after Ronaldson was penalised for not releasing on the deck. The pressure told after successive lineouts with Scannell plunging over from a well-controlled drive.
Ian Keatley was wide with the conversion attempt and both defences tightened up in the second quarter, the slippery conditions not helping the players as a number of handling errors blighted attacks.
Robin Copeland raided over halfway as Munster lifted their tempo on the restart, with Tomas O'Leary, Saili and Keith Earls all increasing their influence. They missed a gilt-edged chance for a second maul try in the 54th minute, though, as Connacht number eight Eoghan Masterson forced a vital lineout steal.
Ronaldson's penalty on the hour mark, set up by some excellent ruck work from Muldoon, kept Connacht on course.
However, breaks from Earls and Keatley got Munster into try-scoring range and Muldoon's impeding of Conway in the 22 resulted in a yellow card and penalty try which Keatley converted. It looked a very harsh call by referee Ben Whitehouse and TMO Simon McDowell as Marmion was doubling back and likely to challenge Conway close to the try-line.
With their lead cut to 13-12, Connacht missed an opportunity to steady their nerves when Ronaldson sent a kickable penalty wide from the right.
But rather than defend the one-point margin, they attacked with great ambition and got their reward when Henshaw's neat break on the Munster 22-metre line and flat offload sent Aki diving over past Conway - a magical way to end Connacht's 29-year winless streak in Limerick.
