Munster’s young guns gave a great account of themselves as Leinster earned a hard fought 27-13 victory at the Aviva Stadium
With this rivalry being one sided over the years, both in this fixture and the trophy cabinet, Munster were huge underdogs.
A frustrating season combined with injuries to Tadhg Bernie, Peter O’Mahony, Andrew Conway, Keith Earls and Simon Zebo made this evening a huge ask for Munster.
However, Munster’s young guns gave the province a bright future to look forward to, with Jack Crowley, Jack O’Sullivan, Tom Ahern and Liam Coombes all impressing.
While Munster will be hugely disappointed to lose the game, there is several positives they will take out of a very entertaining game, particularly the performance of the younger players.
Speaking to RTÉ after the game, Graham Rowntree revealed how proud he was of Munster tonight.
‘I’ve just told the lads I’m proud of them...we’re going in the right direction’ - Munster head coach Grahan Rowntree says he sees continued improvement in his Munster team pic.twitter.com/ITkOmm4j7e
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 22, 2022
"I've just told the lads I'm proud of them. We had to deal with yellow cards, we managed the yellow cards. We had to deal with guys coming off at the end of the game.
I'm proud of our effort and our energy. I see continued improvement from us each week.
It's a good experience for them, they wouldn't be in our matchday 23 if i didn't think they were good enough. We've had a dense week in terms of injuries, but again big picture here, I'm proud of their effort.
We will be better."
Leinster Finish Strong In Thrilling Game
Leinster threw everything at Munster from the second the game kicked off, but some strong Munster defence and uncharacteristic errors from Leinster kept it scoreless.
When Munster got forward, they were having some joy and drew first blood through the boot of Joey Carbery. However, Leinster responded immediately through Scott Penny’s try from close range.
Munster defended strongly to keep themselves within touching distance of Leinster, and were the happier of the two sides as Leinster took a 7-6 lead into the interval.
This was even through two spells of being reduced to 14 men, with Jean Kleyn and Kenyan Knox both receiving yellows, with Kleyn lucky not to see red.
Graham Rowntree’s side were in dreamland five minutes into the second half, when Coombes cousins Gavin and Liam combined to send the young winger over in the corner for Munster’s first try.
🏉 TRY MUNSTER
Cousins combine, Gavin to Liam, as 14-man Munster take the lead at the Aviva Stadium
📺 👉 https://t.co/b2OI4O7lx9
📱 👉 https://t.co/b0WmWg9xTJ
📻 👉 https://t.co/Od8FxntrpN pic.twitter.com/JsfALYacjy— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 22, 2022
Leinster once again hit back immediately, as Dan Sheehan scored his sixth try of the season to give the home side the lead once again.
🏉 TRY LEINSTER
Try-scoring machine Dan Sheehan with his sixth of the season to quickly as Leinster quickly retake the lead
📺 👉 https://t.co/b2OI4OpuLh
📱 👉 https://t.co/b0WmWfSuRJ
📻 👉 https://t.co/Od8FxnLADV pic.twitter.com/8JOMpSDGPy— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 22, 2022
Leo Cullen’s side managed the game from this moment on, and had their third try through Luke McGrath, with a rare piece of poor defending from Munster to give some daylight between the sides at 22-13.
Munster gave everything to close the gap, but some brilliant work from Leinster kept them out.
Leo Cullen’s side got their bonus point with two minutes remaining when Caelan Doris and Sexton combined to put Rob Russell through for an excellent try, as Leinster go six from six in the URC.
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