RG Snyman comes back to haunt Munster as early Leinster masterclass secures Croke Park victory

RG Snyman marked his first game against former team Munster with a try as Leinster claimed a 26-12 win in the United Rugby Championship clash at Croke Park.

A record league crowd of 80,468 watched the Irish provinces battle it out at GAA HQ for the second time in 15 years, albeit that injuries meant Munster were not at full strength.

Leo Cullen’s men helped themselves to a first-half bonus point, with Snyman scoring against his former team on the stroke of half-time.

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Tries from James Lowe, captain Caelan Doris and Hugo Keenan – all inside the opening quarter of an hour – had the hosts in control.

Resilient Munster put Emerging Ireland’s Sean O’Brien over in the 34th minute, having had an earlier Calvin Nash effort ruled out.

The industrious Mike Haley touched down with 15 minutes remaining but there were no further scores with Leinster’s Ross Byrne and Ciaran Frawley both missing penalties.

Croke Park became the 54th different venue to host a URC fixture and Munster, who lost the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final here, fell behind when Lowe crossed out wide in the fifth minute.

Frawley converted and also added the extras after player-of-the-match Doris had spun out of a Jack Crowley tackle to score.

Keenan added the third try thanks to slick hands from Jamie Osborne and Frawley again converted.

Alex Nankivell’s forward pass meant Nash missed out on a try in response but Gavin Coombes’ inside ball, off a lineout, sent O’Brien surging over to make it 21-5.

Snyman hit back, crashing over past former team-mates John Ryan and Craig Casey, before a defence-dominated third quarter saw Munster held scoreless despite Tom Farrell’s best efforts.

It took a Coombes kick in behind to put Haley over, yet Leinster finished the stronger and a Frawley penalty from distance bounced back off the left-hand post.

The teams

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Liam Turner, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 James Ryan, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Harry Byrne

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Seán O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Ruadhán Quinn, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Shay McCarthy

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Peter Martin (IRFU), Keane Davison (IRFU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)

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