Munster beat Glasgow to go top

Editor

Munster overcame a spirited Glasgow Warriors outfit 22-10 in Cork on Saturday in a result that takes them top of the Guinness PRO12 table.

The Irish province claimed the half-time lead with two tries courtesy of Jack O'Donoghue and Eusebio Guinazu. 

Glasgow failed to get any points on the board in the first-half meaning they were trailing 12-0 after the first 40. 

And the hosts claimed two further tries in the second-half from Keith Earls and CJ Stander to secure their bonus-point victory. 

The Warriors did score some points with a penalty for Connor Braid and a try for Rossouw De Klerk in the second-half but it was not enough and they went down 22-10. 

It was a thrilling first-half as Munster dominated the possession in Glasgow's half but the Warriors held out strongly to prevent the home side from scoring until the 28th minute. Ian Keatley managed to skip through the Glasgow defence and pass out to O'Donoghue who broke the tackle and crashed over for the first try of the game. 

After more sustained pressure on the Warriors line, Munster hammered the defence until it finally broke and Guinazu flew over the line to give his side a 12-0 lead at half-time. 

It was Glasgow who claimed the first points in the second-half with a penalty for Braid on 52 minutes, he had missed his first attempt at goal just a minute earlier. 

Soon after they were in for their first try when De Klerk caught the ball on a brilliant line and he strode passed the defence to score under the posts. 

However, Munster replied just minutes later when Keatley kicked the ball through and Earls chased fantastically to gather the ball on the bounce and score on the wing. 

CJ Stander claimed the fourth and bonus point try when he was forced over in the maul from the Munster line-out. Glasgow thought they had scored on 75 minutes courtesy of Lee Jones but it was disallowed by the TMO, as he deemed the winger's foot in touch before the ball was grounded. 

It was their last attempt at a bonus point as they surrendered their top of the league place to Munster, who claimed the 22-10 victory.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: O'Donoghue, Guinazu, Earls, Stander
Con: Keatley

For Glasgow:
Try: De Klerk
Con: Braid
Pen: Braid

Munster: 15 JJ Hanrahan, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Denis Hurley (c), 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Jack O'Donoghue, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 John Ryan.
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave O'Callaghan, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Andrew Smith, 23 Ivan Dineen.

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Niko Matawalu, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Fraser Lyle, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Connor Braid, 9 Murray McConnell, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Will Bordill, 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Al Kellock (c), 4 James Eddie, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Alex Allan.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 D'arcy Rae, 19 Alex Toolis, 20 Tommy Spinks, 21 Glenn Bryce, 22 Lee Jones, 23 Rory Hughes.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mark Patton (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)
Television match official: Dermot Moloney (Ireland)
Assessor: John Sheehan (Ireland)