Munster beat 13-man Connacht to book appointment in Leinster

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Andrew Conway scored a couple of attempts as Munster took advantage of both first-half red cards for opponents Connacht to reach the PRO14 semi-finals thanks to a 49-12 bonus point victory.

Connacht’s number eight rookie Abraham Papali’i was sent off for a high tackle in the 25th minute over Conor Murray, while nine minutes later hooker Shane Delahunt turned red after leading with an elbow to the neck of CJ Stander.

Munster punished Conor Oliver with a Chris Cloete try in the seventh minute and a penalty try before prop Jeremy Loughman added a third, while Connacht’s replacement Bundee Aki responded to make it 21-7 at the halftime.

Rebounding from two yellows of his own, Munster went on to dominate the second half as they rose again above Scarlets to second place in Conference B.

Attempts by man of the match Tadhg Beirne, Conway (2) and James Cronin overshadowed an effort by Jonny Murphy as Johann van Graan’s men set up a quarterfinal clash with old foes Leinster at Aviva Stadium next Friday.

Taking advantage of Connacht’s poor discipline, Munster consolidated his initial dominance after wing Oliver was guilty of losing control. Cloete landed from a textbook lineout maul and JJ Hanrahan scored the first of his five conversions.

Connacht’s seven-man group shot a penalty try in the 15th minute from a five-meter scrum, with Munster’s header, John Ryan, leading the way. It was a nightmare start, but Westerners gradually recovered.

New Zealander Papali’i managed to steal possession from CJ Stander and also charged hard, but that good work was undone when he tackled Murray with what referee Frank Murphy deemed a shoulder to the head, in consultation with TMO Olly Hodges.

After the double ejection, and amid some inconsistent call calls from Murphy, Loughman delivered a smart finish after 36 minutes, bouncing off a pair of tackles with Hanrahan converting.

Yellow cards for Munster captain Peter O’Mahony and Beirne near his own line equaled the numbers at 13 apiece, later on, and Connacht took a good try from Aki, who got in between a pair of front rowers. .

However, conceding three attempts in a five minute period caused Connacht to go down.

Beirne earned a bonus point in the 49th minute by running a smart line inside Aki.

Hanrahan converted and also added extras to a quick double from Conway with the best attempts of the afternoon watching Beirne brilliantly bond with Chris Farrell and Damian De Allende before support end Conway ended the long-distance break.

Conway soon took his loot to four tries in two games by chasing a Hanrahan kick into the right corner.

Munster’s replacement Cronin and Connacht’s hooker Murphy also traded close range scores with replacement Rory Scannell, keeping the winners’ 100 percent return from the tee.

On the other hand, Cardiff Blues defeated the Ospreys 29-20 at Rodney Parade in the final game of the Welsh national rugby season.

Wales winger Josh Adams scored a try and made another for Jason Harries against his international head coach Wayne Pivac.

Dan Evans and Luke Morgan scored the Ospreys ‘attempts, but their discipline disappointed them and the Blues’ top midfielder Jason Tovey took advantage with a perfect record of two conversions and five penalties.

This game was played in Rodney Parade instead of the Blues’ usual home in Cardiff Arms Park, which is still used as a medical center to counter the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stephen Myler rewarded the Ospreys, whose loss means they finish last of Conference A in PRO14, for a promising start with an early penalty kick and it was the visitors who had the most ball in the first 10 minutes.

Tovey and Myler exchanged penalties before the Blues made the first attempt.

Max Llewellyn and Adams were the architects with breaks before the ball spread to the left. Blues captain Josh Navidi was involved and it was left to Harries, who finished acrobatically in the corner despite being under little pressure. Tovey nailed the touchline conversion.

With nothing significant in the match, both sides were guilty of out-of-control kicks and a series of big punches could not hide the lack of quality of the game.

Llewellyn limped off with an ankle injury, but that couldn’t stop the Blues from making two excellent attempts. This time, Harries was the creator when he came off his right wing and kicked.

The Ospreys should have done better defensively and Adams swooped in to score in the exact same corner as Harries on his seventh attempt in eight Blues games. Tovey’s kick was perfect again.

Justin Tipuric initiated the absent answer. He picked up a front kick and although he was stopped, the Ospreys had a big overlap when the ball was recycled.

Evans was the scorer and Myler kicked the goal.

Tovey responded with two quick penalties as the second half resumed to put the Blues up 10 points as the Ospreys got on the wrong side of referee Adam Jones’ whistle.

The Blues penalties kept coming and Tovey’s sixth shot of the afternoon maintained his excellent performance from the tee.

Jones had seen enough of the Ospreys’ poor discipline and got Olly Cracknell a yellow card as his team was lucky to escape Adams by ruling out what would have been his second attempt.

Both teams unloaded their benches for the fourth quarter, but another Tovey penalty ended the game before Morgan took late consolation after Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones set him up.

In the last match in Italy, Benetton took revenge on Zebre for last week’s home loss by winning 16-9 at Stadio Lanfranchi di Parma.

Two tries from impressive winger Monty Ioane and a penalty each from Tommaso Allan and Ian Keatley led the visitors to four points.

Zebre’s response was three penalties from Antonio Rizzi that finished the season in sixth place in Conference A, four points ahead of the Ospreys. Benetton finished the season in fifth place in Conference B as they kept their noses right in front of the Cardiff Blues and the Kings basement team.



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