Ex-All Black scores on Connacht debut but Munster claim thrilling derby victory
Shane Daly in action for Munster in 2024.
Munster came from behind to record an opening round victory as they overcame fellow Irish province Connacht 35-33 at Thomond Park.
Former All Black Josh Ioane opened the scoring and Ben Murphy also touched down as the visitors went 12 points ahead early on.
The hosts fought back and, after tries from Alex Nankivell and Mike Haley, Munster held a 14-12 lead, but Murphy regained Connacht’s advantage at the break.
That see-saw nature continued in the second period with John Hodnett and Gavin Coombes going over for Graham Rowntree’s men, and David Hawkshaw and Cathal Forde responding for the away side.
However, it was the 2023 champions who had the final say when Shane Daly crossed the whitewash to snatch the win.
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Murphy cut inside Craig Casey off a 13th-minute scrum, connecting with Shayne Bolton out wide, and had Ioane up in support to score Connacht’s opener.
Seven minutes later, Murphy brilliantly collected Ioane’s instinctive offload to go in behind the posts and the New Zealander converted.
After Casey was caught high by Cordero for his yellow card, Nankivell broke out of Conor Oliver’s attempted tackle to cut the gap to five points.
Munster newcomer Billy Burns also converted Haley’s 31st-minute effort, with the tricky full-back stretching out of a Bolton tackle to touch down.
Nonetheless, Ioane’s superb straight line and return pass allowed Murphy to complete his brace just before the break, with Forde adding the extras.
There were four more tries inside the opening 23 minutes of the second half. Hodnett burrowed over and then Hawkshaw zoomed in from a nicely-timed Dave Heffernan pass.
Casey’s tap-and-go set up Coombes to give the hosts a 28-26 lead, only for Forde to muscle over just past the hour mark.
However, Connacht’s dreams of repeating their famous 2015 and 2021 wins in Limerick were dashed when Daly scored from a Haley pass and Tony Butler’s right boot did the rest.
Last-gasp Dragons stun Ospreys
Dragons stunned Ospreys 23-21 in the United Rugby Championship thanks to a dramatic converted try by replacement prop Luke Yendle.
It looked like the Swansea side would take the spoils in Newport thanks to tries by centre Keiran Williams and wing Ryan Conbeer, plus 11 points from the boot of fly-half Dan Edwards.
However, Dragons struck with the clock in the red when they hammered away for Yendle to add to the first-half try by flanker Harri Keddie, Lloyd Evans adding the crucial conversion to take his points tally to 13.
It was a huge win against the Welsh Shield holders by a side who finished one from bottom of the URC last season.
Both kickers had early settlers with Evans putting Dragons in front on his debut only for Edwards to cancel out that penalty from the tee.
Ospreys scored the first try of the afternoon in the 20th minute when centre Williams was put under the posts by wing Luke Morgan.
Edwards converted to make it 10-3 but Dragons then scored 10 unanswered points to move back in front.
Evans kicked a penalty and then Keddie finished off a terrific move down the right wing, going over from lock Matthew Screech’s offload.
The Dragons fly-half added the extras for a 13-10 lead but it was Ospreys that had the edge at the break courtesy of two Edwards penalties.
They stretched that lead five minutes after the restart when full-back Jack Walsh made a line break to put Conbeer in down the left for a debut try.
The conversion was missed but Evans also failed from the tee with a penalty attempt and it remained 21-13 to Ospreys going into the final quarter.
Dragons were reduced to 14 men in the 69th minute when replacement hooker James Benjamin paid the price for a high team penalty count.
The hosts got within striking distance with three minutes to go from the boot of Evans and then levelled through Yendle, with the fly-half’s conversion winning it.