Munster Rugby deservedly beat the Emirates Lions 17-10 at Thomond Park on Saturday evening. Munster Rugby scored three tries to one scored by the Emirates Lions.
Both teams showed from early on that they were willing to let the ball do the talking in a match that started at a blistering pace. Although several handling errors were made due to a slippery ball it did not stop the teams to "play".
Thaakir Abrahams scored Munster's first try, which was converted by Billy Burns to lead 07-00 after fifteen minutes of play in the first half.
Twelve minutes later, Henco van Wyk stepped and bounced off several players on his way to score the Lions' first try. A conversion by Kade Wolhuter level the scores on 07-07.
Kade Wolhuter converted a penalty to give the Lions a 10-07 lead with eight minutes to play in the first half.
Both sides did not find their rhythm at the halftime break, which unfortunately added to the number of errors made.
Munster attacked from the kickoff and following some brilliance by Thaakir Abrahams, setting Shane Daly in space to score Munster's second try to retake the lead 12-10.
Munster started to play a more structured gameplan, patiently building their attack until John Ryan bulldozed his way over the Lions' tryline to extend Munster's lead to 17-10 with twenty-five minutes to play in the second half.
The rest of the match was a bit of a "bore" with the errors continuing to dominate. Munster deservedly won 17-10.
Scorers:
Munster Rugby: Tries: Thaakir Abrahams, Shane Daly, John Ryan. Conversion: Billy Burns.
Emirates Lions: Try: Henco van Wyk. Conversion: Kade Wolhuter. Penalty: Kade Wolhuter.
Teams
Munster Rugby: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Shay McCarthy, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Evan O’Connell, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron (c), 1 Dian Bleuler. Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Ruadhán Quinn, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Shane Daly.
Emirates Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 WJ Steenkamp, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Juan Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Morgan Naudé, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 JC Pretorius, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Tapiwa Mafura, 23 Erich Cronje.