Munster secure maximum haul from South Africa as Lions’ play-off hopes dealt hammer blow

Jack Crowley kicked 13 points for Munster as they secured a 33-13 victory over the Lions at Ellis Park in the United Rugby Championship.

The defending champions defeated the Bulls 27-22 in Pretoria last week and backed that up with another strong performance against the Lions to go back-to-back in South Africa.

Jack O’Donoghue and Shane Daly both crossed for tries for the Irish province, who were also awarded a penalty try in the win, with Crowley adding three conversions and three penalties. Replacement back-rower Gavin Coombes put the icing on the cake with a late try to secure the bonus point.

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It was a tactical masterclass from Munster in a statement performance in their bid to defend the title as they moved into third place overall.

Meanwhile, the Lions were shut down by the Munster defence, with only PJ Botha grabbing a try, with full-back Jordan Hendrikse adding a conversion and two penalties.

Graham Rowntree’s side had to work hard for their scores and they spent lengthy spells of the second half defending their line having built a 28-6 lead before securing the bonus point in the final minute.

Crowley kicked them into a nine-point lead through three penalties in a tight start to the Round 15 clash.

It took until the 27th minute for the Lions to register their first points through the boot of Hendrikse and they almost added to their score when Erich Cronje chipped ahead and raced clear only to be wrong-footed by an unkind bounce.

Munster’s pack were getting the better of the hosts and they orchestrated the first try of the match with a driving maul finished by O’Donoghue, which Crowley converted.

Crowley made a try-saving tackle on Hendrikse and although the Lions full-back landed his second penalty, a pivotal moment arrived in first-half stoppage time when Simon Zebo was taken out off the ball as he was close to scoring.

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Referee Craig Evans awarded a penalty try and sent Marius Louw to the sin-bin for interfering with Zebo.

Munster had the victory wrapped up eight minutes into the second half when Daly was offered a simple score with all the hard work being done inside him.

But after sustained pressure when the Lions hammered away at the visitors’ line through their pack, they eventually went over through Botha with Hendrikse adding the extras.

They needed to score again quickly if they were to reel in Munster but instead they were met by a wall in defence as the champions soaked up phase after phase of attack.

In a final indignity for the Lions, they faded in the closing minutes to allow Coombes over for a maul try.

The teams

Lions: 15 Jordan Hendrikse, 14 Richard Kriel, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Marius Louw (c), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Sanele Nohamba, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Emmanuel Tshituka, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Morgan Naude
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 JP Smith, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Ruan Venter, 21 Sibusiso Sangweni, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Gianni Lombard

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Seán O’Brien, 11 Shane Daly 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 RG Snyman, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Oli Jager, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Gavin Coombes, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Mike Haley

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant Referees: AJ Jacobs (SARU), Dylen November (SARU)
TMO: Adam Jones (WRU)

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