URC result: Lions fall to Munster in messy Thomond Park affair

The Lions were made to pay for a bitterly poor second half performance as they slumped to a disappointing 17-10 loss against Munster in their United Rugby Championship (URC) encounter at Thomond Park in Limerick on Saturday night.

It was a decent first half for the visitors, who would also have felt quite hard done by the ref during the opening 40, as they took a 10-7 lead into the halftime break.

But a fast start from the hosts in the second half, as well as an error strewn showing from the Lions saw Munster pick up just their third URC win over the season.

It was a messy start to the match from both sides as a number of handling errors didn’t allow either to gain any early ascendancy.

However it was Munster who settled first, and after a good spell of play in the Lions 22m they struck, with the ball finding wing Thaakir Abrahams to step and brush off an attempted tackle before going over for an converted score in the 15^th minute.

The Lions responded 13 minutes later with a stunning solo try to centre Henco van Wyk, after he received the ball in the Munster half with nothing on, but after a number of steps and power to get through a few attempted tackles, he carried a defender over the line to level the scores.

In the 33^rd minute the Lions were back on attack in Munster territory, earned a penalty and flyhalf Kade Wolhuter slotted the penalty to put them into a 10-7 lead, which they took into the halftime break.

Flying start

Munster got off to a flying start in the second half to push them into a seven point lead after 54 minutes thanks to two quick tries.

First the hosts started a counterattack from near their own 22m, with them breaking the line, putting the ball through the hands and replacement outside back Shane Daly went over for the unconverted try just after the restart.

Then from a scrum in the Lions 22m Munster attacked with a number of pick and go’s, getting close before prop Alex Kendellen powered his way over to score.

Burns missed both conversions, which meant the score remained 17-10 and kept the Lions well in the game heading into the final quarter.

But instead it was a dreadful, error strewn final 20 minutes from both teams, with the Lions in particular making poor decisions, including not choosing to go for polls after earning a penalty in front of the uprights with 10 minutes remaining.

In the final minutes the Lions attempted a last ditch attack from deep, but Munster stole the ball at the breakdown to end the match.

Scorers

Munster: Tries – Thaakir Abrahams, Shane Daly, Alex Kendellen; Conversion – Billy Burns

Lions: Try – Henco van Wyk; Conversion – Kade Wolhuter; Penalty: Wolhuter