Munster continued their climb up the BKT United Rugby Championship table, as they made it back-to-back bonus-point wins with a 29-8 victory against the Scarlets at Thomond Park.
Ian Costello's side could and probably should have won the game by a lot more than the 16-point margin as they dominated the Welsh side, who had to make more than 200 tackles across the 80 minutes. By contrast, Munster’s tackle count barely reached 50 by full-time.
A wasteful first half prevented this game from becoming a blowout, as Munster’s lineout inconsistencies and poor protection of the ball saw them squander a number of chances, with Shay McCarthy’s try on the 20-minute mark their only score as they led 7-3 at half time.
They looked a different side after the break, and made their dominance count with an efficient attacking display, aided by a powerful scrum which drew four penalties across the match, and constant clean ball for the backline to work with.
Gavin Coombes (above) carried relentlessly to score two tries which he’ll hope could tip the scales for an Ireland 'A’ call-up this week, while his fellow back row partner Alex Kendellen will also be in with a chance of featuring against the English in Bristol next week after nabbing his team’s third try. Tom Farrell capped off the scoring with the final play of the game.
It took just under two minutes for the Scarlets to get an early sighting of the posts, with Ioan Lloyd attempting a penalty from 40 metres which ultimately drifted wide.
In terms of territory and possession, Munster were dominant early on, but it was a wasteful period as they twice lost lineouts in the Scarlets’ 22 inside the opening 10 minutes.
That pressure continued and ultimately led to the visitors temporarily going down to 14 men when centre Johnny Williams was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on after Josh Wycherley intercepted an overthrown lineout.
It looked like Munster were in for their opening try just after that sinbinning. Kicking their penalty to the corner, they set their maul to work before Tom Ahern (below) broke from the back to ground the ball, but the celebrations were short lived after a TMO referral saw the try ruled out for a knock-on.
The frustration was compounded when Diarmuid Kilgallen’s luckless season continued, the winger limping off injured in the 17th minutes, and that was closely followed by another penalty for the Scarlets in front of the posts. This time, Lloyd made no mistake to give his side a 3-0 advantage.
Munster finally made an attack stick just after the 20-minute mark, and it was a wonderful strike play that saw McCarthy score with his first touch of the ball, having replaced Kilgallen a few minutes earlier.
Starting from a lineout in the Scarlets 22, the home side moved infield to Rory Scannell, before two quick passes back inside to Tom Farrell and McCarthy allowed the latter run in and score, with Burns converting to make it 7-3.
Frustratingly, it would be Munster’s only score of a first half they dominated.
Oli Jager and Josh Wycherley were dominant at the scrum, winning three penalties in the first half, among a total of eight against the Scarlets in the first 40. However, that was offset by a struggling lineout and a litany of handling errors, the last of which saw Ben O’Connor spill Burns’ under hit pass on the edge of the Scarlets 22, which was the final act of a sloppy first half.
That break was probably what the home side needed, and they came out hot, with a Burns crossfield kick almost sending Ahern clear down the left wing. They had been playing with penalty advantage, and after turning down three points in favour of the corner, it proved to be the right call when Coombes forced his way over for the second try on 44 minutes, pushing the lead out to 12-3.
The tension and handling errors of the first vanished, and paved the way for a period of controlled and composed rugby, as the home side worked their way through 28 phases to get close to the Scarlets line before winning a penalty, and from there they were in position for their third try of the night, Kendellen forcing his way over after a series of one-out passes, and Burns converted to make it 19-3 after 52 minutes.
The lineout continued to misfire though, and when Barron was caught for a crooked throw on 56 minutes, the Scarlets fired their first real shot of the game from the resulting scrum.
After getting the ball wide to Macs Page, the wing fended off a weak tackle by Ben O’Connor before chipping over Shane Daly to run in and score his side’s opening try, although the try was almost prevented by Paddy Patterson’s tireless defensive effort to almost hold him up over the line.
It would only be a blip on the Munster second half performance, and with just over 15 minutes left to play they rubberstamped their bonus-point win.
Full-time: Munster 29-8 Scarlets
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 15, 2025
Gavin Coombes dived over from close range to seal a bonus-point win for the hosts #URC pic.twitter.com/WmPeN3oyXM
Another dominant scrum allowed them to kick a penalty to the corner, and just as he had earlier in the half Coombes proved lethal from close range to score his second try of the night, which restored the 16-point lead at 24-8.
The home side pressed for another score to reflect their dominance, which by now saw them with 76% possession and 86% of the territory, and although it looked like they would be left frustrated when Daly picked up a yellow card in the final minute for a dangerous tackle on Joe Roberts, there was still time to get back down to the corner, as Farrell forced his way over with the final act of the game.
Munster scorers: Tries: Shay McCarthy, Gavin Coombes (2), Alex Kendellen, Tom Farrell
Cons: Billy Burns (2)
Scarlets scorers: Tries: Macs Page
Pens: Ioan Lloyd
Munster: Ben O'Connor; Shane Daly, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Billy Burns, Ethan Coughlan; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager; Tom Ahern, Fineen Wycherley, Jack O’Donoghue (capt), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell (for Barron, 64(, Kieran Ryan (for J Wycherley, 55), John Ryan (for Jager, 55), Brian Gleeson (for O’Donoghue, 40), John Hodnett (for Ahern, 51), Paddy Patterson (for Coughlan, 55), Tony Butler (Billy Burns. 65), Shay McCarthy (for Kilgallen, 16).
Scarlets: Ioan Nicholas; Ellis Mee, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Steff Evans; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies (capt); Kemsley Mathias, Marnus van der Merwe, Archer Holz; Max Douglas, Sam Lousi; Taine Plumtree, Dan Davis, Vaea Fifita.
Replacements: Ryan Elias (for Van der Merwe, 55), Alec Hepburn (for Mathias, 46), Sam Wainwright (for Holz, 13), Alec Craig (for Plumtree, 52), Jarrod Taylor (for Davis, 61), Archie Hughes (for Davies, 67), Charlie Titcombe, Macs Page (for Nicholas, 55).
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
