United Rugby Championship: Munster fight back to seal Sharks stalemate while Cardiff claim Welsh Shield

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Munster overturned a 19-point deficit to secure a 22-all draw with the Sharks in the final round of the United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season.

The Sharks raced into a 22-3 half-time lead thanks to tries from Bongi Mbonambi, Werner Kok and Sikhumbuzo Notshe.

However, Munster fought back in the second half after being awarded a penalty try before Calvin Nash and Conor Murray crossed for scores.

Munster finish the regular season in fifth and will face Glasgow Warriors at Scotscoun Stadium in the quarter-finals, while the Sharks will head to Dublin to take on Leinster.

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In what was his final home game for the Sharks, Siya Kolisi limped off the pitch just eight minutes into the encounter.

The Springbok captain will join Racing 92 after the World Cup and looked to go out with a bang but ended up in the stands after suffering a significant injury to his right knee, incurred during a tackle by Nash.

Once Kolisi had been patched up for an aborted attempt at playing on, a short-range maul allowed Mbonambi to peel free on the blindside to touch down.

The Sharks added a contentious second when Kok rolled his way over the whitewash but the try was approved by the TMO.

For all their success in finding the line, the Durban-based team were losing key players at a worrying rate as fly-half Curwin Bosch followed Kolisi into the stands, also with a knee injury.

Unperturbed, the Sharks kept on coming with number eight Notshe the next to capitalise on a line-out maul following a strong carry by Mbonambi.

With wing Shane Daly in the sin-bin, Munster were up against it, and they entered half-time 19-3 down without firing a shot.

Their outlook soon improved when replacement wing Aphelele Fassi was sin-binned for offside, in the process conceding a penalty try that offered a glimmer of hope.

Munster quickly saw the extra man wiped out when captain Peter O’Mahony was shown a yellow card for escalating a scuffle.

But an opportunist try by Nash tilted the game on its axis, and when Murray went over at the end of a maul for a try converted by Ben Healy, the score was level at 22-22.

Munster poured forward in the closing stages but could not finish the job.

Cardiff claim URC Welsh Shield

Cardiff put their off-field troubles firmly behind them as they produced a superb performance to destroy Ospreys 38-21 in the United Rugby Championship and win the Welsh Shield and, with it European Champions Cup rugby for next season.

On Thursday, their director of rugby Dai Young was suspended after allegations were made against him, but it was his son Thomas and Welsh international scrum-half Tomos Williams, who shone brightest in a terrific team effort at the Principality Stadium.

Young scored two tries, Max Llewellyn, Mason Grady and Rhys Carre the others, with Rhys Priestland converting all five and adding a penalty.

Sam Parry, Dewi Lake and Gareth Thomas scored tries for Ospreys, all of which Gareth Anscombe converted.

Rhys Webb led out Ospreys on his 200th appearance for the region, but it was Cardiff who made the better start. They declined two kickable penalties in favour of more attacking options, but it proved the wrong option as mistakes prevented them from capitalising.

However, they continued to dominate the opening quarter in terms of territory and possession and came closest to scoring when Grady lost possession as he attempted to force his way over.

As a result, a penalty-ridden and largely featureless first quarter finished scoreless, with Ospreys conceding nine penalties in the first 25 minutes, and eventually, that ill-discipline took its toll when Young crashed over from close-range.

Priestland converted before Cardiff soon scored an excellent second try when Williams quickly took a tap penalty to race 40 metres before sending Llewellyn over.

Worse was to follow for lethargic Ospreys when Young burst away from a maul to kick ahead for Grady to collect and squeeze the ball down for the touchdown.

A brilliant half for Cardiff was nearly sealed when Jarrod Evans, Williams and Llewellyn produced some mesmerising handling to see Young cross, but TMO replays ruled out the try for a marginal forward pass.

However, the capital region still led 24-0 at the interval after Priestland kicked a penalty to complete a half in which Ospreys failed to strike a single blow.

Five minutes after the restart, they did open their account when Parry finished off a line-out drive, but Williams intercepted to send Young on a 45-metre run to the line for his second try.

Thomas scored a second for Ospreys in a more competitive second half, and Lake added another after Cardiff’s replacement James Botham had picked up a yellow card.

But Cardiff deservedly had the final say when Carre powered over with three minutes to go.

The URC quarter-finals

(Kick-off dates and times to be confirmed)

Leinster v Sharks
Ulster v Connacht
Stormers v Bulls
Glasgow Warriors v Munster

READ MORE: Bulls thrash Leinster while Zebre end the season winless and Dragons down Scarlets

Cardiff Rugby