Move over Zebo, there is a new kid in town! On his 10th senior appearance Alex Wootton became the first Munster player to score four tries in a single game since Mike Mullins (who accomplished that feat back in 2001 according to Stu Farmer on Twitter). Of course Simon Zebo remains Munster’s top try scorer, and while he has several hat-tricks to his name, he now has a new record to aim for! Isn’t it great to see such strength in depth with Keith Earls and Ronan O’Mahony (and some good Academy prospects) to come into contention for selection in the coming weeks and months?
What an evening's work for Alex Wootton, scoring 4 of @Munsterrugby's 8 try's. Some performance! pic.twitter.com/hxeJB18E9Q
— Sportsfile (@sportsfile) September 9, 2017
It was a breezy showery day in Limerick but thankfully it remained dry for most of the game. Indeed those on the East side needed shades. I thought there would be a bigger crowd for the historic occasion of the first visit to Thomond by one of the new South African teams in the Pro14. Maybe some of the regulars had gone to support Limerick to victory in the Under 21s hurling final instead.
Ian Keatley had an early penalty opportunity which he kicked deep to touch. From the lineout the first maul of the day was deployed before Munster went wide to midfield. An offside by #4 Bernardo gave Ian a simple penalty kick which he slotted between the posts in the 3rd minute to get his first score of the new season. Alex Wootton got out hearts pumping from the restart which he claimed as he set off on an attacking run before passing to a supporting player, giving us a taster of what was to come from the former Ireland U20s and 7s player.
A loose pass gave possession away but Tommy O’Donnell dived on the ball when it squirted out and Munster were back on the attack. Jaco passed to his midfield partner Chris Farrell who kicked ahead. He gave chase alongside Darren Sweetnam. While the defender got there first to touch it down he had carried it over the line so Munster had a 5m scrum.
An early scrum as Liam “Boomer” O’Connor packs down in the front row alongside Rhys and Stephen
However a mix-up in communication resulted in crossing. From the resultant Cheetahs scrum, superb pressure by the pack resulted in a turnover. Jack claimed the ball and passed to Tommy O’Donnell who powered over for the first try of the game which Keatley converted in the 7th minute to make it 10-0.
Eight minutes later, an offside by Munster gave Cheetahs a penalty opportunity in front of the post enabling Robbie Petzer to get Cheetahs off the mark.
Another offside offence on halfway gave Munster a kick to touch in the 22. Sean O’Connor secured and the maul formed around him, sucking in defenders. It made some ground before being carried up in midfield. Munster retained possession and a super skip pass by Darren to his fellow winger put Alex Wootton in for his first try of the evening. Keatley converted in difficult conditions and at 21 minutes Munster were 17-3 ahead.
Another penalty for the Cheetahs kept the scoreboard ticking over (17-6.) A serious looking injury to their #8 Niell Jordaan who had been driven backward in a ruck led to a delay waiting for the motorised carrier to arrive. He got a sympathetic round of applause as he left the pitch.
Sean, Billy and Jean ready to contest the lineout
In the 29th minute Wootton and Petersen collided shoulder to shoulder as they chased a kick. It looked like the latter took a bad knock but after some treatment he was able to continue.
A superb turnover when Jaco became an auxiliary flanker put Munster back on the attack and when Cheetahs failed to roll away Keatley kicked to their 22m line. Lineout was secured by Jean Kleyn. The maul made progress before great handling by the backline got the ball quickly out to Alex on the wing. He scooted in at the corner before deciding to go further infield to ground the ball. The conversion was missed to make it 22-6. I was taken by surprise when the ref blew for half time as the stadium clock read 37 minutes. The Cheetahs had spent the final minutes of the half probing the Munster 22 but the defense held firm.
Half-Time in Thomond Park and @Munsterrugby lead the @CheetahsRugby 22-6 with tries from Alex Wooton and Tommy O'Donnell pic.twitter.com/l60s9Z7r4N
— Inpho Photography (@Inphosports) September 9, 2017
However immediately from the restart the Cheetahs cut loose and scored – their captain collected the kick-off, passed to his midfield partner William Small-Smith who took a great line between two red shirts to score in the corner. The conversion went wide.
A great kick ahead and chase by Conway should have resulted in a Munster lineout as we thought the defender had come across to kick it out but the officials did not agree and gave the throw in to the Cheetahs. A few minutes later Munster had a scrum in a good position from which they won a penalty. Credit to Academy player Liam O’Connor, on only his second senior appearance, who as per last week put in another great performance at loosehead.
From the line out the maul sucked in the defense before the ball went out to Chris Farrell. Duncan Williams ensured that the ball came back quickly when Farrell was tackled. Jean Kleyn came onto it at pace to power over for his third try of the season, which put him temporarily joint top of this season’s try scoring leaderboard (3). Not bad for a lock! Unfortunately, the conversion came back off the post.
Wootton continued to impress. He chased his chip ahead and gathered the ball. We were protesting a high tackle on him but Munster retained possession and a few phases later Chris Farrell scored his first try for Munster. The referee asked the TMO to check for obstruction by Tommy before confirming that the try was good. Keatley converted to make it 34-11 in the 51st minute.
There was no stopping Alex as he showed his power and pace to score his 4th of the night in the corner. This time the score came from a scrum on the Munster 10m line. Duncan Williams did well to kick the ball through the defense. Alex chased, gathered the ball inside their 10m line and sprinted clear to slide in at the corner. Another difficult conversion was missed given the windy conditions and so it remained 39-11 after 55’.
I felt sorry for the Cheetahs as an international front row of Kilcoyne, Scannell and Ryan prowled the sideline, waiting to be unleashed on them. The trio were straight into the action with a lineout and maul. Rory Scannell came on for Jaco in midfield.
The new front row plus Fineen and Robin towards the end of the game as James Hart prepares to put in the ball
Keatley made a great break and when tackled popped the ball back to Duncan. The backs spread it wide with another super long pass by Sweetnam putting Alex in for his 4th try of the evening and 5th of the season to date. Zebo, another international eager to get into the action replaced Alex on the wing while James Hart came on for Duncan Williams at the same time.
Another good break by Small-Smith was snuffed out by Zebo and while he had gotten his pass away Rory was there to tackle the recipient. Zebo was back on his feet to gather the next pass and the danger was averted. Kevin kicked off “Stand Up and Fight” and we all rowed in behind him.
Fineen Wycherley came on for the final ten minutes in place of Jean Kleyn while Robin Copeland replaced Jack O’Donoghue.
The 8th and final Munster try fell to Zebo in the 72nd minute. Hart put in a grubber kick off the back of a maul. Zebo managed to get to it first after it crossed the line to get on the scoresheet. While chants of Ze-bo, Ze-bo” rang out, the day belonged to Alex who was duly awarded Man of the Match to cap off his performance.
A big smile from @SimonZebo as he scores a late try in @Munsterrugby's win over the @CheetahsRugby in @thomondstadium pic.twitter.com/m16YQAhCQ5
— Inpho Photography (@Inphosports) September 9, 2017
Francois Venter, the Cheetahs Captain led by example, as he made a break into the Munster 22 but a forward pass let Munster off the hook. However, the Cheetahs were not done. They won a scrum just inside their own half in the final minute. They drove Munster back over half way before going wide. Munster scrambled well to stop their initial forays but despite the best efforts of Andrew Conway and Niall Scannell they could not stop #7 Henco Venter stretching out to touch down. The successful conversion was the final kick of the game.
Munster wait for the final conversion attempt to bring the game to an end – in front of the new MRSC logo
Munster: Andrew Conway, Darren Sweetnam, Chris Farrell, Jaco Taute (R Scannell), Alex Wootton (S Zebo 61); Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams (J Hart 61); Liam O’Connor (D Kilcoyne 57), Rhys Marshall (N Scannell 57), Stephen Archer (J Ryan 57); Jean Kleyn (F Wycherley 70), Billy Holland – capt.; Sean O’Connor, Tommy O’Donnell, Jack O’Donoghue (R Copeland 64). Replacements: Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Robin Copeland, James Hart, Rory Scannell, Simon Zebo.
TOYOTA CHEETAHS: Clayton Blommetjies ( Ryno Benjamin 56′) (Ali Mgijima 76′), Sergeal Petersen, Francois Venter (captain), William Small-Smith,. Makazole Mapimpi, Robbie Petzer, Shaun Venter (Tian Meyer 72′) Charles Marais, (Ox Nche, 59’), Jacques du Toit (.Torsten van Jaarsveld 50′) Johan Coetzee, (Tom Botha, 67’), Rynier Bernardo (Justin Basson, 76’), Reniel Hugo, Paul Schoeman, Henco Venter, Niell Jordaan ( Armandt Koster 28′).
Job done, more players getting back up to speed after the summer, new players gaining experience and maximum points obtained. While tougher tests will lie ahead the rainbow spotted over the east stand in the latter stages of the game align to a sense of optimism despite the coaching uncertainty.
A rainbow appeared over the East Stand towards the end of the game
While some people would prefer to see the old coaches gone already my own view is that the team and young coaches will benefit from their experience and guidance in the interim. Rassie alluded to what he has learnt after one season in the Northern Hemisphere and has done a good job in developing more depth in the squad so let’s trust him to leave us in a good place whenever he departs.
Match Stats from ESPN show a much better 2nd half performance by Munster compared to last week which was reflected on the scoreboard. Sean O’Connor made the most tackles for Munster (9) while both Cheetahs’ flankers were in double figures reflecting their lower possession rate.
Articles from the papers include Rassie’s post match thoughts in The42.ie and match reports from the Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Independent and The42.ie
Match highlights (I wonder what the South African supporters will make of the Irish commentary courtesy of TG4!)
Rory Duncan and his coaching team certainly raised the sartorial stakes in the new Pro14 competition! Even their medic wore the team socks, maybe there was a laundry shortage at the end of their 2 match visit to Ireland
Helping the players warm up in his shirtsleeves 
Sharp dressed men raising the stakes of the Pro14 
Scrummaging in a suit!
Ian Keatley was wearing a special jersey with the new MRSC logo on his sleeve which was won by a lucky MRSC member to celebrate the launch of their new log.
I enjoyed meeting so many of the old gang on the terrace and indeed queueing outside before the game! The Waterford contingent (John and Sinead) were first in the queue as is often the case closely followed by Joan and Kevin from Cork and Pascal from Limerick. I joined the queue just behind Diarmuid and John after a quick trip over to check out the Museum, quick as it was closed due to technical issues. Maybe next time!
The new conference structure was discussed and there was concern that the Irish provinces have a tougher inter-pro fixture than those countries with two teams who play each other 3 times. Still derby games can have a different energy to belie league positions. Time will tell how it all works out.
Once inside we had to shelter for a while against the back wall when a heavy shower blew in onto the terrace before moving back into position. Conor, Patrick and Eilish were early arrivals while I waved across the walkway to my companions from last week – Brian, Anne and Eoghan (I was delighted to discover I had chosen the correct spelling for the latter as there are so many possibilities!). I also had a word with Joe before he proudly took to the pitch carrying a flag in the guard of honour.
There was a gap in our midst when Imelda and Tony failed to appear. We thought they were delayed watching the Limerick U21s win the All Ireland but when word filtered back they had indeed moved to the sunny side and the elevated aspect of the East Stand there was talk of sanctions before they would be allowed to re-enter our beloved West Terrace! Maybe we should have asked for that to be added to the MRSC constitution at the AGM which I had attended earlier in the afternoon.
Caption this! Imelda and Tony bob-nobbing with amongst others Doug Howlett (amazing what a 20x zoom can pick up!)
There was good discussion at the AGM on various topics which supporters feel strongly about including a second big screen, jersey availability, seating at Cork (late arrivals / reserved seating) and merchandise for women! My suggestion re recording the pitchside interviews and sharing on YouTube seemed to go down well. It is a pity that more people did not take the opportunity to attend! There were 4 of the MRSC Dublin regulars there, Michelle, Teresa, Paul and myself. We sat with Eddie and Bernie and I met James and Sinead there also. Previously the AGM was held on a Wednesday evening in Cork which did not suit me. Hopefully more people will attend in future to help shape our club!
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