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OPPOSITION
Disappointingly their first home defeat of the season came by way of their
interprovincial neighbours Connacht in Thomond Park in November. It was
to be the first league loss at the Limerick venue in over a year. Crucially,
the men in red did secure a losing bonus point and with only eight points
separating the top five teams before round ten, the race for points was as
tight as ever.
Munster’s season started in Cork at the beginning of September as
Anthony Foley’s men ground out an 18-13 win over Benetton Treviso in Irish
Independent Park.
Last season’s Player of the Year, CJ Stander, picked up where he left off
with a man-of-the-match performance in the opener and it was his two tries
that eventually broke a stubborn Treviso resistance in Cork.
Stander came up trumps again the following week as he scored a last-
minute try, with Ian Keatley converting, to claim a 20-18 win over Ospreys.
Keatley then kicked a late penalty against Glasgow Warriors to earn a 23-21
win in Munster’s first outing at Thomond Park in round 3. In all, the out-half
kicked 13 points, with tries from Dave O’Callaghan and BJ Botha crucial in
the narrow victory over a depleted but determined Glasgow team.
Round 4 saw Munster claim their first bonus-point win of the season at Irish
Independent Park as they scored five tries in a 35-27 victory over Cardiff
Blues.
Mike Sherry touched down twice, with tries from Keatley, summer arrival
Jordan Coghlan and Andrew Conway securing an entertaining victory.
Having won their opening four PRO12 games for the first time since
2011, Munster’s winning run came to an end at Scarlets in October. Steve
Shingler’s last-gasp penalty gave the table-topping Welsh outfit a 25-22
victory.
Keatley continued his impressive start to the season at the Welsh venue
with 17 points in difficult conditions and Conway notched his second try of
the season.
But Munster were denied a rare away victory at Parc y Scarlets in the final
five minutes as Shingler kicked two late penalties, the latter a monster kick
under pressure, to secure a thrilling victory with the clock deep in red.
For round 6 today’s opposition were the beaten opponents in a heavily
contested encounter in Limerick that went right down to the wire with the
hosts claiming a bonus-point 32-28 victory in the first Irish derby of the
season. Andrew Conway, Robin Copeland, Gerhard van den Heever, Denis
Hurley and Simon Zebo were the try-scorers at a windswept Thomond Park,
as Munster survived a late Ulster comeback.
The southern province just about maintained their winning ways in
Murrayfield a week laterwith a dramatic 14-16 win over Edinburgh in round 7.
The game’s sole try came the way of John Ryan while Ian Keatley kicked
11 points from the tee, but it was a final charge-down from CJ Stander on
Hidalgo-Clyne’s drop-goal attempt that denied victory for the home side in
additional time.
With the defeat against Connacht, next Munster were unable to turn
things around the following week at Rodney Parade and fell to a second
successive defeat in the PRO12. Munster’s only points came through the
boot of academy player Rory Scannell after he kicked two penalties, and a
dominant second half Dragons performance ensured Anthony Foley’s men
came away empty handed.
The festive fixture sees Munster play Leinster in Thomond Park and then
Ulster are first up in the New Year at Kingspan Stadium, where the southern
province face the stiffest of tests against a side so dominant in front of their
home support.
MUNSTER SEASON SO FAR
Opening round wins for Munster saw them among
the early pacesetters in the Guinness PRO12 with
Anthony Foley’s side in third place in the league table
after round nine.
munster_rugby
@Munsterrugby
MunsterRugby
CLUB STATS
//Location
Limerick, Ireland
//Founded
1879
//Ground
Thomond Park
Irish Independent Park
//Capacity
Thomond Park 25,600
Irish Independent Park 9,251
//Last Game
Leinster Rugby(H)
Sun 27th Dec 2015 at 17:15
//Next Game
Zebre Rugby (A)
29/30/31 Jan 2016 TBC
STAFF
// Coach
Anthony Foley
//Captain
CJ Stander
CONTACT
Thomond Park Stadium
Limerick, Cork
Tel +353 21 432 3563
TICKET OFFICE
Tel +353 61421103
MERCHANDISE
Tel +353 61318080
www.munsterrugby.ie