Munster came back from 17-7 down to score 31 unanswered points for a vital 38-17 victory away to Edinburgh on Friday night.
It was an excellent team performance with Craig Casey, Rory Scannell, Calvin Nash, Gavin Coombes and Joey Carbery scoring the Munster tries with Carbery perfect off the tee.
Jean Kleyn was named BKT URC Player of the Match after another huge shift from the Munster lock.
Ahead of a minute’s applause before kick-off, Munster captain Peter O’Mahony and Edinburgh captain Grant Gilchrist lay out jerseys bearing the number 5 in honour of the great Doddie Weir, who sadly passed away last week. You can donate to Doddie’s foundation here.
Edinburgh led 7-0 after just three minutes as Luke Crosbie broke through the Munster defence far too easily and passed for Chris Dean to score under the posts with Blair Kinghorn converting.
It was all Edinburgh early on. Peter O’Mahony came up with an important lineout steal and Antoine Frisch ripped the ball in the tackle before 200-cap man John Ryan came up with a huge breakdown penalty to relive the pressure.
Darcy Graham intercepted a Carbery pass and ran 55 metres to score in the right corner to increase the lead. Kinghorn’s conversion hit the post but Edinburgh led 12-0 after 20 minutes.
Munster nearly came up with the perfect response as Calvin Nash raced up to collect Carbery’s restart and offloaded to Frisch who found Kleyn. Munster were five metres from the line but a handling error lost possession and Edinburgh escaped.
The Munster maul provided the platform for the comeback with Casey sniping over for the first Munster try on 23 minutes with Carbery converting to make it 12-7.
Edinburgh increased their lead through Jamie Ritchie as stretched to score the third Edinburgh try after a looping Blair Kinghorn run.
Th teams looked to be going in at half-time with Edinburgh leading 17-7 but Frisch set up Rory Scannell with a beautifully delayed pass as Scannell picked a great line and ran in under the posts. Carbery converted and it was 17-14 at half-time.
Munster came flying out of the blocks after the break and led for the first time when Carbery slipped Nash through a gap and the winger took a brilliant line and raced through to score. Carbery converted and Munster were 21-17 ahead.
A high tackle on Carbery gave Munster another opportunity as the out-half kicked to the right corner. O’Mahony dropped the lineout but Munster kept possession with Niall Scannell on the charge but Ritchie came up with a big steal when Nash was tackled metres short of the line.
Replacement scrum-half Paddy Patterson came on just past 50 minutes and made an immediate impact with his elusive running creating space. Gavin Coombes benefitted and was in for the fourth Munster try on 52 minutes as he ran through three defenders to score from eight metres after Patterson’s zippy delivery. Carbery’s conversion made it 28-17 to Munster.
Diarmuid Barron showed great pace to reach the loose ball when Edinburgh chipped over the top as the hosts steadied the ship and looked to generate momentum of their own.
It was Munster who scored next as Edinburgh were penalised for taking out the scrum-half and Carbery continued his perfect night off the tee to give Munster a 14-point lead, 31-17.
Replacement Roman Salanoa was held up over the line after a thrilling Munster attack started by Patrick Campbell with Shane Daly also involved. Carbery passed for Salanoa to charge at the line but the Edinburgh defence were able to hold him up on the line.
The Munster maul defence came to the rescue with 10 minutes to go and Carbery rounded off a fine night with a neat finish in the final play to cap off a memorable victory.
URC Round 9 Round-Up
John Ryan made his 200th Munster appearance.
Academy player Patrick Campbell made his sixth appearance of the season.
Simon Zebo limped off early in the second half and will be assessed by the medical team.
Jean Kleyn was named BKT URC Player of the Match.
Munster: Shane Daly; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Rory Scannell (Jack Crowley, 57), Simon Zebo (Patrick Campbell, 45); Joey Carbery, Craig Casey (Paddy Patterson, 51); Jeremy Loughman (Josh Wycherley, 66), Niall Scannell (Diarmuid Barron, 51), John Ryan (Roman Salanoa, 66); Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (C) (Jack O’Donoghue, 64), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes (Alex Kendellen, 57)