Edwin Edogbo, Thomas Ahern (two), Diarmuid Barron, Alex Nankivell, John Hodnett scored tries as electric Munster put in brilliant attacking display to beat URC league leaders Glasgow; Warriors scored five tries on the night, despite being outplayed, four of which came via rolling mauls
Saturday 2 December 2023 19:35, UK
A superb display of attacking rugby saw Munster clinch a 40-29 victory over URC leaders Glasgow Warriors at a freezing cold Musgrave Park in Cork on Friday evening.
Tries from second row Edwin Edogbo, blindside Thomas Ahern (two), hooker Diarmuid Barron, centre Alex Nankivell and openside flanker John Hodnett saw Munster to a comprehensive success.
Glasgow found themselves 19-0 down early, and never managed to get within striking distance of getting back into the contest, but their rolling maul remained an exceptionally potent weapon, with four of their five tries coming via that facet, and a fifth two phases after a maul drive.
Back-rows Sione Vailanu and Rory Darge, hooker Johnny Matthews and replacement hooker Angus Fraser each touched down, in addition to the awarding of a penalty try for a maul collapse, ensuring a try bonus-point was collected at least.
Munster hit the front via Edogbo's eighth-minute try, as the powerful 20-year-old vaulted over from close range to score, rewarding Munster's early persistent ambition in kicking penalties to touch rather than for the posts.
The visitors were soon reduced to 14 players when loosehead Nathan McBeth was sin-binned for persistent team infringements after he rolled into the way of Munster scrum-half Craig Casey, with Glasgow having been warned for a series of penalties conceded at lineout and breakdown within their 22 prior to Munster's opener.
On 13 minutes, the hosts' second try arrived through Ahern, as he used all his 6'9" frame to soar into the air and claim a Shane Daly kick-pass, before being dangerously taken out in the air by scrum-half Sean Kennedy, brushing it off to return to his feet and force his way over in the corner with wing Sean O'Brien providing support on his shoulder.
Jack Crowley missed the tough conversion, with Kennedy extremely fortunate not to be shown yellow, but less than three minutes after that score, Munster notched a try of the season contender as skipper Barron finished a sensational coast-to-coast attack from their own 22, with outside-centre Antoine Frisch to the fore.
The move saw the ball shipped at some pace between Casey, Crowley, Daly, Frisch, Ahern, O'Brien (who produced a gorgeous chip-kick pass), Nankivell, Casey again, and finally, Barron, who stepped and powered for the line to score.
Crowley converted off the touchline for 19-0, but Glasgow were next to score when flanker Vailanu touched down at the back of a dominant rolling maul after Warriors 10 Duncan Weir had produced a superb penalty kick to touch, pushing for every inch into the corner.
Weir struck poorly to miss the conversion, though, before a trademark Tadhg Beirne breakdown penalty put Munster back into the Glasgow 22 past the half-hour mark, only for two lost lineouts resulting in chances going begging.
Ahern then notched his second three minutes before the break, after another spellbinding phase of Munster attack through multiple passes and phases in the Glasgow half, with No 8 Gavin Coombes making the pivotal dummy and burst past Henco Venter, before quick ball through Casey, Beirne, Stephen Archer and Calvin Nash fed the athletic Ahern out wide again.
Another outstanding Crowley touchline conversion left things at 26-5, but just over 90 seconds into the second half, Glasgow scored their second maul try, this one taking far longer to reach the try-line but doing so all the same as backs piled in for hooker Matthews to just stretch and ground.
A key O'Brien interception halted Glasgow just as they looked dangerous on the counter, and before the 50-minute mark, Kiwi midfielder Nankivell pressed the accelerator and leapt over for his first Munster try, as a wealth of pressure by the hosts was again translated into points.
Glasgow tighthead Lucio Sordoni was sin-binned in addition to the try for repeated team penalties again in the 22. Yet, despite the numerical disadvantage, Glasgow notched two tries in seven minutes as Munster continued to fail to deal with the Warriors attacking maul.
Darge forced his way over past poor tackling shortly after another powerful drive, before a penalty try was awarded for a rolling maul collapse, meaning the Warriors would leave with at least one point. Munster's Beirne was also sin-binned for the act.
Munster rolled up their sleeves and got the crucial next score with 15 minutes to play, all-but wrapping up victory as Hodnett somehow forced his way over past a maze of legs and arms from a five-metre tap attack, with props Dave Kilcoyne and Oli Jager - the latter on his Munster debut having joined from the Crusaders - providing plenty of heft in support.
Glasgow had the final say - yet another maul try - as Fraser belatedly grounded for a consolation in the final minute, but Munster were left to celebrate a valuable league success before heading into two rounds of European Cup action.
