Final-minute try gives Munster away PRO12 win over Ospreys
Last Updated: 14/09/15 10:51am
A last-minute try from South African CJ Stander earned Munster a 20-18 win over Ospreys in the PRO12.
The boot of Sam Davies kept Ospreys ahead for most of the game before a try from replacement back rower Stander with seconds remaining gave Ian Keatley an opportunity to win the game with a conversion which he duly slotted.
It was heartbreaking for Ospreys, who played plenty of positive rugby, but were unable to cross the Munster line despite lengthy periods of possession. Munster on the other hand were typically clinical, staying in the game long enough to grab the win when it counted.
The win leaves Munster in third place in the PRO12 standings, while the bonus point from the game gave Ospreys their only competitive point as they lie 11th.
The first half belonged to Ospreys in the amount of rugby they forced Munster to endure. The Irishmen made 82 tackles to the Ospreys' 34, but their defence held out enough to ensure they did not concede any tries.
The fly-halves traded penalties, with Sam Davies adding three for Ospreys, while Munster's Tyler Bleyendaal slotted two.
Munster came close to scoring in the 25th minute, when a Cathal Sheridan kick from the base of the ruck bounced in the Ospreys' in-goal area, and Stephen Fitzgerald got to it first, but the Irish winger was unable to control the ball and knocked it on in his attempt to ground it.
The missed opportunity meant the two sides went into the break at 9-6 to Ospreys.
In the 47th minute Davies added to the lead of the hosts with another penalty, but Munster were camped on the Ospreys' line shortly thereafter, and a deft kick from Bleyendaal fell into the arms of Fitzgerald, who cantered over for one of the easier tries he will ever score.
Bleyendaal added the extras to give his side a one-point lead, but in the 64th minute Davies reclaimed it when Robin Copeland tried to run his side out of trouble from his own 22m area, but held onto the ball too long in the tackle to hand the fly-half his fifth shot from the tee.
Davies' sixth goal came from a scrum penalty, and the five-point lead seemed set to be enough, before Munster kicked for touch on the back of a penalty of their own to set up a lineout on the Ospreys' line. The visitors recycled the ball patiently before Stander crashed over for a try that levelled the scores.
Keatley then stepped up to convert the try to snatch an unlikely win away from home.
