Munster got back to winning ways in the BKT United Rugby Championship when they defeated DHL Stormers 10-3 in a repeat of last season’s final.
A try just before the break from Edwin Edogbo proved to be the difference as Graham Rowntree’s men notched their third win of the campaign.
It was a landmark night for tighthead prop Stephen Archer who came on in the third quarter to equal Donnacha O’Callaghan’s record 268 appearances for Munster.
Conditions were much more testing for both sides than when they met in the Cape Town sunshine in the final in May and it developed into a tough contest in the wind and rain.
Unsurprisingly, scores were scarce in front of a crowd of 15,044 at Thomond Park but Munster took the lead after 14 minutes when Jack Crowley slotted a penalty.
They applied plenty of pressure but didn’t increase their lead until just before the break when a Crowley penalty to the corner led to an onslaught that led to three penalties in a row.
Stormers’ captain Neethling Fouche was binned and Munster pounced with the extra man, driving home for Edogbo, who scored his first ever Munster try against the Sharks on the opening weekend of the season, to get the touchdown.
Crowley added the conversion from the right to lead 10-0 at the break.
The South Africans hit back after the restart despite being down a man and got off the mark with a penalty from Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu after 45 minutes.
Both sides were forced to defend for long periods and both did well to prevent tries by holding the ball up over the line with Gavin Coombes particularly prominent in the home defence as they got back to winning ways.
Next up for Munster will be a trip to the Aviva Stadium next weekend to take on Leinster.
Munster: Shane Daly; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Shay McCarthy; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey (Conor Murray, 59); Jeremy Loughman (Josh Wycherley, 48), Scott Buckley, John Ryan (Stephen Archer, 48); Edwin Edogbo (Tom Ahern, 53), Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony (Jack O’Donoghue, 41), John Hodnett (Alex Kendellen, 68), Gavin Coombes.
Not used: Chris Moore, Rory Scannell.
URC Round 5 Round-Up
The international trio of Peter O’Mahony, Tadhg Beirne and Conor Murray returned for their first appearances of the season.
Academy winger Shay McCarthy and lock Edwin Edogbo both started.
Stephen Archer came on to make his 268th appearance for Munster, equalling Donncha O’Callaghan’s record of most appearances for the province.
Jack Crowley was named the player of the match.