Munster grind past Racing 92
Munster were made to work very hard but eventually got the job done when they claimed a 14-7 victory over Racing 92 in Limerick on Saturday.
The home side outscored their visitors two tries to one with Conor Murray and Andrew Conway scoring their five-pointers, and Leone Nakarawa crossed the whitewash for Racing.
The match was an incredibly intense and physical affair and the result was in the balance until the final whistle although Munster sealed victory when they secured a crucial turnover deep inside their 22.
There was little interesting to report in the first half with both sides cagey in their approach and bizarrely the sides were deadlocked at 0-0 at half-time.
Both teams were guilty of kicking away possession during this period but poor execution and solid defensive efforts meant that they cancelled each other out for large periods.
Munster eventually took the lead in the 61st minute thanks to a moment of brilliance from Murray. From a scrum, close to the visitors' 10-metre line, Murray charged down an attempted box kick from Maxime Machenaud and gathered the rebound in front of the Racing try-line before diving over for the opening try.
That sent the Munster faithful into delirium and they had more to smile about when Ian Keatley added the extras to give the hosts a slender but deserved 7-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Keatley had a chance to extend his side's lead, after several Racing players wnet off their feet at a ruck, but he pushed his shot at goal wide of the uprights.
The home side put that setback behind them and in the 70th minute they took the ball through several phases inside Racing's 22 before the ball was spun out wide to Andrew Conway, who rounded off in the right-hand corner.
Keatley did well to slot a difficult conversion and with the score now 14-0, Munster had some breathing space although Racing had not surrendered yet. And in the 70th minute, Edwin Maka was stopped just short after a strong carry before Nakarawa gathered and dove over despite the attentions of several defenders.
Teddy Iribaren slotted the conversion which set up a tense finish but although Racing tried desperately to add to their points tally, Munster held on for a hard-fought win which means they secured their first Champions Cup win after two matches.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Murray, Conway
Cons: Keatley 2
For Racing 92:
Try: Nakarawa
Con: Iribaren
Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Rhys Marshall, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Liam O'Connor, 18 John Ryan, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Jack O'Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Andrew Conway
Racing 92: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Anthony Tuitavake, 11 Louis Dupichot, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Maxime Machenaud, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Viliamu Afatia, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 20 Edwin Maka, 21 Teddy Iribaren, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Albert Vulivuli
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Simon McConnell (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)