Munster picked up their first points of this season’s Champions Cup campaign thanks to a bonus-point 31-3 win over Gloucester at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Munster scored five tries in total to secure the win in front of 36,208 supporters in Cork.
With just 90 seconds on the clock, Gloucester won a penalty after a Michael Ala’alatoa entered a ruck from the side and Charlie Atkinson made no mistake with the long range effort to put the visitors 0-3 in front.
The English side were competing for everything at the breakdown whoich was reflected in a counter ruck after five minutes which eventually saw Munster penalised for handling the ball on the ground. Thankfully, Munster stole two lineout on Gloucester’s throw to alleviate the pressure.
Approaching the 20 minute mark, the Páirc Uí Chaoimh crowd began to make their voices heard and the Munster players responded with their first foray into the Gloucester 22. Unfortunately a powerful maul came to nothing when Munster were penalised for playing the ball on the ground.
However, Munster got their first try moments later when Crowley identified an overlap which saw the ball spread to Mike Haley. The full-back kicked the ball ahead which richocheted before he collected and offloaded to Dan Kelly for the try. Crowley’s conversion ensured a 7-3 lead for Munster.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Gloucester were temporarily reduced to 14 players when Jamal Ford-Robinson saw yellow for making contact with Crowley’s head when cleaning out a ruck. Munster opted for the posts but Crowley’s kick into the wind saw the ball just go wide.
After nine minutes played in the second half, Munster got their second try when a lovely offload from Alex Nankivell found Mike Haley with the fullback crossing in the corner for a crucial score. Crowley’s conversion drifted wide as Munster stretched their lead out to 12-3.
Approaching the final 10 minutes, Munster got their third try from Ruadhán Quinn who powered over from a quick tap penalty which Crowley converted.
A scrum penalty won by Conor Bartley who had just come on for his European debut saw Crowley ping the ball into the corner but the ball was a little too high for Beirne to collect in the lineout and it went forward.
Munster secured the bonus point try after 73 minutes when another excellent effort in the scrum from Bartley saw Munster win a penalty and opt to tap the ball five metres out. From this, the ball was brough close to the before being sent out to Nankivell and the Kiwi produced a lovely behind the back pass which found Farrell and the centre crossed under the posts. Crowley’s conversion put Munster 26-3 in front.
Munster got one more try at the death when an overthrown lineout was picked off by captain Tadhg Beirne and the second-row powered over from close range to put Munster 31-3 in front.
There was still time to add another score but a Munster move broke down and the referee signalled the end of the game as Clayton McMillan’s side secured the bonus-point to get up and running in this season’s Champions Cup.
Investec Champions Cup Round 2 Round-Up
Craig Casey was awarded the Investec Player of the Match.
Conor Bartley made his European debut.
Munster Rugby: Mike Haley (Hanrahan 71′); Shane Daly, Dan Kelly (Farrell 54′), Alex Nankivell, Ben O’Connor; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey (Patterson 71′); Michael Milne (Wycherley 61′), Niall Scannell (Barron 61′), Michael Ala’alatoa (Bartley 70′); Jean Kleyn (Edogbo 61′), Tadhg Beirne (C); Tom Ahern, Jack O’Donoghue (Quinn 61′), Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, Conor Bartley, Edwin Edogbo, Ruadhán Quinn, Paddy Patterson, JJ Hanrahan, Tom Farrell.