MUNSTER 34-18 STORMERS
Munster rode one hell of a storm from their South African visitors, but they answered back with one of their own.
Johann van Graan’s side were caught on the hop by a fired-up, accurate Stormers side in the first half, at Thomond Park. They trailed 15-0 and were left indebted to a try-saving tackle by Peter O’Mahony before they finally found their feet in the game.
Tries from Warrick Gelant and Leolin Zas had Munster 12-0 down before O’Mahony prevented – on a TMO review – what looked to be a certain try under the posts. A Gelant penalty, on 30 minutes, made it 15-0 and Munster were forced to dig deep in order to get a score on the board.
It arrived, after sustained pressure, when Jack O’Donoghue got over the Stormers tryline. There was light at the end of the tunnel.
The score that started the Munster comeback pic.twitter.com/6vvDFmdU16
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 2, 2021
A second Munster try arrived seven minutes into the second half, and it came with a big dollop of controversy.
Jean Kleyn muscled over for a try that would make it 14-15, but Munster captain Peter O’Mahony was raging after hooker Niall Scannell showed him that he had been bitten on the leg. He approached referee Andrew Brace and the following conversation took place:
BRACE: I can only go on the footage, Pete
O’MAHONY: 100%, but he has a full-on bite mark.
Sure enough, two angles were reviewed by Brace and the TMO. Scannell looked to have tangled with a Stormers forward, as the forwards mauled over, but TV footage was inconclusive.
Brace found O’Mahony after Joey Carbery landed his conversion. The referee told the Munster captain. “I understand your frustrations, but there’s nothing in the footage… if there’s anything there, my citing officer will deal with it.”
Niall Scannell (right) points to a bite mark after Jean Kleyn scored for Munster at Thomond Park in Limerick. (Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile)There was some form of justice, delivered by Scannell of all players, when the Munster hooker powered over from close range after another heaving drive by the forwards.
That put Munster clear and they never looked back.
https://twitter.com/RTErugby/status/1444396026664665089
With the Stormers’ tank well and truly empty, Jack O’Donoghue crossed for his second try, which wrapped up a scoring bonus point. Tim Swiel got three points back with a well-struck penalty but the hosts were not finished.
Ben Healy kicked deep when Munster were awarded a penalty. Peter O’Mahony claimed the lineout throw and dished the ball to sub RG Snyman. The big Springbok spun in contact and dived, with the ball gripped in one paw, and stretched for the line to score.
The last act of the game saw sub Ben Healy pump over another long-range penalty to make the win look more cosy than it felt after that first half.
Our Man of the Match: Gavin Coombes (Munster)
