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October 04, 2008

Munster 25 - 17 Glasgow Warriors

RaboDirect PRO12 match played at Thomond Park on Saturday October 4th 2008 | 6 comments

Hefin's late try almost brought the Warriors within reach of a bonus point
Munster made a winning return to their spiritual home of Thomond Park but they had to put in a hard night's work against a durable Glasgow side.

Glasgow Warriors scrapped for every possession and a late try from replacement Hefin O'Hare almost gave the visitors a losing bonus point.

However, Colin Gregor's conversion attempt sailed wide and, in the end, tries from Peter Stringer, Barry Murphy and Doug Howlett were enough to give Munster the points which move them back to the Magners League's summit.

More than 19,000 spectators turned up to see Munster begin a new era at their redeveloped Limerick ground and they did not have long to wait for the first score.

There were just 83 seconds on the clock when Stringer pounced for the opening try.

Bernardo Stortoni ill-advisedly took a quick line-out throw, passing behind his try-line to John Beattie.

But the Glasgow number eight dropped the greasy ball and the ever-alert Stringer was in like a flash to touch down.

Television match official Brian Fitzgerald confirmed the grounding and with Ronan O'Gara quickly converting, Munster were up and running.

Gregor, a nemesis of Munster's in the past, missed a tricky penalty chance to reply.

Filling in for the injured Dan Parks, Gregor gradually grew into his role and he found his kicking boots towards the end of the half.

O'Gara nudged a penalty from distance through the posts for a 10-0 lead, with Munster pressing well through Doug Howlett and Keith Earls.

Stortoni was energetic as ever for Glasgow, while scrum-half Mark McMillan box-kicked well and linked smoothly with his pack.

The Glasgow forwards gnarled away at the breakdown and forced a 32nd-minute penalty which Gregor landed for a 10-6 interval deficit.

A nasty collision with Earls cut short Thom Evans' night but his brother Max launched a fine counter-attack, on the resumption, to show Glasgow's intent.

Try-scoring chances were at a premium and when Gregor missed two penalties, either side of half-time, Munster took their cue.

O'Gara notched his second penalty and in the 54th minute, Murphy got over in the left corner after a barging run from Earls and a dinked kick from Rua Tipoki.

The Irishmen were never out of sight though and two Gregor kicks cut the gap back to 18-12 in the final quarter.

A move straight off the training ground allowed Munster to reassume control - a line-out tap-down and a string of passes sent Howlett over for his fourth try of the campaign.

Yet Munster's push for a bonus point score never really materialised and gutsy Glasgow had the final say when Stortoni and Max Evans combined to put O'Hare through on the left.

Click here for the Scotland on Sunday match report

You can see highlights from the game here

Referee Andrew Small (England)
Attendance 19,000-ish
Man of the Match
Team
1
Justin Va'a
2
Dougie Hall
3
Moray Low
4
Opeta Palepoi
5
Alastair Kellock
6
Kelly Brown
7
John Barclay
8
John Beattie
9
Mark McMillan
10
Colin Gregor
11
Thom Evans
12
Andrew Henderson
13
Max Evans
14
Lome Fa'atau
15
Bernardo Stortoni
Sub
Kevin Tkachuk
Sub
Ed Kalman
Sub
Tim Barker
Sub
Steve Swindall
Sub
Ruaridh Jackson
Sub
Graeme Morrison
Sub
Hefin O'Hare
Match Substitutions
Off On
Thom Evans Hefin O'Hare
Off On
Moray Low Ed Kalman
Off On
Opeta Palepoi Tim Barker
Off On
Lome Fa'atau Ruaridh Jackson
Off On
John Barclay Steve Swindall
Off On
Mark McMillan Graeme Morrison
Off On
Justin Va'a Kevin Tkachuk
Scorers
Colin Gregor Penalty
Colin Gregor Penalty
Colin Gregor Penalty
Hefin O'Hare Try 
Posted by Carolynagain on October 5, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply to this comment

As one of the handful of Glasgow fans there I was thoroughly disapointed at the team's performance last night. The pack and the backs seemed incapable of working tgether and there were far too many unforced errors. Only Munster keeping up their end of the error count made us look anywhere near competitive. We quickly need to do something about the complete lack of leadership on the pitch

Posted by copnei on October 5, 2008 05:29 PM | Reply to this comment

Nag by name nag by nature!

They did not play that badly. The weather was shocking. Yes there were silly mistakes but it was not a bad performance overall!

Posted by SpiderPig on October 5, 2008 05:55 PM | Reply to this comment

Are you nagging about the right game? Or you meaning that Edin debacle against Ulster? The boys played very well in shocking conditions against the European champions. The forwards didn't take a backwards step and the back line did very well without Dan. Yes there were a lot of mistakes but thats what a good defensive line can do, Munster made a lot of mistakes too!

Posted by Carolynagain on October 5, 2008 09:04 PM | Reply to this comment

So no criticism allowed then? If that is what constitutes playing "very well" we have a major problem. They are more than capable of playing brilliantly but this game was not an example of that. Both teams played in the same weather conditions so that's no excuse. The game was there for the taking.

Posted by copnei on October 6, 2008 09:34 AM | Reply to this comment

Some folk will never be happy, this Munster team nilled Leinster in their last match. That is a feat never before achieved in the history of the Celtic League or before it the Celtic Cup.

Overall our record against Munster is pretty good lets hope this was just a blip.

Posted by Gordon on October 6, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply to this comment

It was a good effort - daft try in opening seconds made it an uphill task but the team did well in conditions that Munster usually love. We'll beat them at Firhill.

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