In the URC, reigning champions Munster secured their third consecutive victory with a resounding 27-17 win over Ospreys. This crucial victory exhibited Munster’s precise and effective finishing capabilities, and was particularly important as they prepare to defend their championship title in the latter part of the season. Their opponents, Ospreys, had been experiencing a winning streak of five home games before this setback.
Despite being on Osprey’s turf, the Swansea.com Stadium, Munster held a commanding 19-5 lead by half-time, much to the surprise of the small audience of 3,897 spectators. Their offensive prowess was evident in the first quarter, but it was their defence that truly shone; they managed to maintain their lead even while facing repeated challenges in their own scrum and the opposition’s.
An unusual set of statistics emerged from the match’s initial quarter. Within the first 17 minutes, Ospreys held both 70% ball possession and 85% territorial dominance, yet they found themselves trailing 19-0. This discrepancy demonstrated Munster’s ability to effectively exploit any chances that came their way; indeed, they converted three out of three visits to the 22 into tries, two of which followed intercept passes.
Making his 100th appearance, Mike Haley set the ball rolling for Munster by setting up Shane Daly for the first try. This score, successfully converted by Joey Carbery, marked Daly’s second in as many games. Ospreys’ defence suffered another blow just three minutes later when Sean O’Brien intercepted a pass and outpaced Keelan Giles to score yet another try. Despite this setback and their previous home losses, the Ospreys remained composed. Munster’s strong defensive play, particularly by Craig Casey, was key in preventing the Ospreys from staging a comeback. Despite penalties granting Ospreys a series of corner plays, Munster’s diligent defence and their struggles in the scrum didn’t hamper their victory.
O’Brien netted his second within the first 17 minutes, spurred on by a faulty pass from full-back Iestyn Hopkins. His grubber down the right continued to bounce propitiously inbounds, allowing him to score after Ospreys Captain Justin Tipuric attempted and failed a tackle. Williams egregiously attempted a fly-kick which led to O’Brien easily skilfully scoring for Munster. Thereafter, Carbery successfully executed the conversion from the right.
The game saw some energetic action from South African Evardi Boshoff and his centre partner Keiran Williams that deflated Munster’s defence, allowing Giles to make a commendable finish leftwardly. This achievement occurred six minutes to the interval.
Despite Munster’s attempt for the bonus point before the break, resilient Ospreys, notwithstanding their loss of Tipuric owing to numerous penalties, maintained their composure and ended the first half 19-5. This resilience extended to not conceding a point even when they were down to 14 men.
A strategic penalty from Williams sent to the left corner provided a glimmer of hope for Ospreys, 54 minutes into the game. They capitalised on this and Sam Parry scored a hard-earned try, supported by a skilful conversion from his outhalf.
In retaliation, Munster launched into an impressive 17-phase move. A Carbery cross-kick to O’Brien set this in motion, involving RG Snyman who then dramatically scored for Munster. Carbery’s subsequent conversion from the left missed the mark, however, he scored a penalty from 30 metres 64 minutes into the game which stretched their lead further.
Six minutes from the final whistle, Alex Cuthbert instilled some hope for Ospreys, netting from the right corner following Jack Walsh’s commendable efforts. However, with one minute left to play, a hamstring injury disturbed his clear run to the finish line, making this another disappointing night for the Welsh rugby. Meanwhile, the champions keep their momentum.
“Our victory was substantial,” proclaimed Sean O’Brien, the star player of the game. “Returning to the field after a few weeks break was wonderful. We struggled initially, with limited ball possession and having to score from difficult positions. It added some frustration as we weren’t able to maintain control over the game and dictate the play as per our liking, thus putting us on defense. We allowed them a few opportunities, but eventually, we emerged victorious.”
The match’s breakdown is as follows: a try from Daly and subsequent conversion by Carbery put up a lead of 0-7 in 3 minutes. This was followed by O’Brien’s try at 6 minutes, leading to 0-12. He repeated this feat at 17 minutes along with Carbery’s conversion taking it to 0-19. Giles made the first try for the rivals at 34 minutes, making it 5-19. By half-time, the score was 5-19. Later, tries from Parry and Snyman along with a conversion from O Williams and penalty kick by Carbery brought the score to 12-27 by the 64th minute. The match concluded at a score of 17-27.
Points were scored for Ospreys by K Giles, S Parry, and A Cuthbert, with O Williams achieving a conversion. For Munster, tries were scored by S O’Brien (2), S Daly, and RG Snyman. J Carbery achieved two conversions and a penalty.
Ospreys roster consisted of I Hopkins, A Cuthbert, E Boshoff, K Williams, K Giles, O Williams, R Morgan-Williams, N Smith, S Parry, T Botha, J Ratti, R Davies, J Rudolph, J Tipuric (captain), and M Morris. Substitutions included R Henry replacing Smith (33 mins), J Walsh for Hopkins (half-time), H Deaves for Rudolph (52), G Phillips for Botha (60), O Watkin for Boshoff (68), H Sutton for Davies (75), and L Lloyd and C Jones substituting for Parry and Morgan-Williams respectively (77).
Munster’s team included M Haley, S O’Brien, A Frisch, R Scannell, S Daly, J Carbery, C Casey, J Wycherley, N Scannell, J Ryan, T Ahern, RG Snyman, J Hodnett, A Kendellen, who was the captain, and G Coombes. During the game, there were several replacements: J Wycherley was replaced by J Loughman on the 45-minute mark, R Snyman was replaced by J O’Donoghue at 60 minutes, likewise S Archer for J Ryan. R Quinn came in for J Hodnett at 64 minutes. The 72nd minute saw E Coughlan replace C Casey and T Butler in for J Carbery. At 75 minutes, E Clarke took the place of N Scannell and finally, two minutes prior to the end, S McCarthy came in for R Scannell. The game was officiated by referee Hollie Davidson from Scotland.