Kilcoyne’s double tames Dragons

Editor

David Kilcoyne stole the show with two tries as Munster eased past Newport Gwent Dragons 26-5 in Limerick.

The Irish forward carried over the line twice to help his side run out 26-5 winners against the PRO12 strugglers.

Tries from Rory Scannell and Kilcoyne's replacement, Jason Cronin, ensured a bonus point, while Hallam Amos scored the only consolation for the Dragons.

It took 18 minutes for Munster to open the scoring, as a number of drives from their forwards were kept short of the line, loosehead prop Kilcoyne scored from close range. With his first attempt at the posts, Ian Keatley failed to add the extras.

Although Dragons had done well to halt a Munster maul that was eating up ground towards the try line, scrum-half Duncan Williams was able to ship the ball to Scannell who dived over the line to take the score in to double figures. Keatley converted well this time, giving his side a lead at 12-0.

Shortly after the break, Kilcoyne scored his second try of the game in similar fashion, carrying over from the back of a ruck to dab down. Once more, Keatley added the extras.

Dragons weren't going down without a fight however, and after Jason Tovey found the gap in the Munster defensive line, winger Amos took the long way around Darren Sweetnam to find the corner. Tovey's conversion fell short of the posts.

Having replaced the try-scoring Kilcoyne earlier in the second half, Cronin had the final say on proceeding as he crashed over the line with just three minutes remaining, before Johhny Holland slotted his only points of the game to seal the 26-5 victory.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: Kilcoyne 2, Scannell, Cronin
Cons: Keatley 2, Holland

For Dragons:
Try: Amos

Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Jack O'Donoghue, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 Johnny Holland, 23 David Johnston.

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Thomas Rhys Thomas (c), 1 Phil Price
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Shaun Knight, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Rynard Landman, 20 Ed Jackson, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Ross Wardle

Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Stuart Gaffikin, Jonathan Peak (both IRFU)
TMO: Simon McDowell (IRFU)