Tries are overrated. On a night of sneezing wind and rain, brutality was beautiful.
There will be more eye-catching rugby played in the BKT United Rugby Championship this season, but on a St Stephen's night derby between Munster and Leinster, the only thing that matters is a win, which Leinster did just enough to achieve on a grueling 9-3 scoreline.
In a game with no tries and just 12 points, the intensity of the collisions was enough consolation. The edge has sharpened between these two sides in the last 18 months, and it made for an absorbing contest.
Joe McCarthy played like a man who has taken the news of RG Snyman’s signing for Leinster personally, and the second row was incredible throughout, throwing himself into every contact, and slowing down Munster at each opportunity.
In the end, the visitors simply wore Munster down. Playing with the conditions behind them in the opening half, Leinster moved out to an early 6-0 lead with a pair of Harry Byrne penalties, while Munster’s only points arrived early shortly after the break through Crowley.
While the score was low, it was partly down to the intent shown by both sides, who turned down shots at goal on multiple occasions in favour of a more profitable score, only to be thwarted by some ferocious defending.
The most notable of those missed chances was for Munster on 67 minutes, after Gavin Coombes had won a jackal penalty in midfield. Even without the benefit of hindsight, it seemed a smart play for the province to shoot at goal and try level the game, but after going for the corner their lineout struggles continued. It would be their final real attacking opportunity.
The win for Leinster sees them move back to the top of the URC table, while Munster must settle for just a losing bonus point, as Graham Rowntree’s side look to arrest a run of three games without a win when they travel to Connacht on New Year’s Day.
If Munster were looking for a fast start after their Champions Cup defeat to Exeter, they got the opposite, conceding a penalty straight from the kick off.
Diarmuid Barron went off his feet at the opening ruck of the game, allowing Byrne a simple tap-over to make it 3-0 to Leinster.
In dreadful conditions, both sides struggled to get to grips on the game. On three minutes, Crowley sent a kick from midfield out over the dead ball line, only for Byrne to do the exact same from the resulting scrum.
The rain was howling into the face of the Munster players in the opening half, and they were struggling to get out of their own half, and on 15 minutes they fell further behind when Byrne kicked his second penalty to make it 6-0.
They responded well, winning a penalty of their own to get up towards the 22, before Alex Nankivell's determined carrying got them within striking range. They couldn't make their first 22 entry count though, with Casey’s dart down the blindside seeing him put a foot in touch.
Tryscoring chances had been scarce, but on 25 minutes Leinster came closest to the first five-pointer. After Gavin Coombes had spilled the ball in contact, Rónan Kelleher was quickest to react, and some neat hands to Max Deegan and then Luke McGrath almost put the scrum-half over in the corner, but Simon Zebo’s brilliant covering tackle forced a knock-on.
The rugby wasn’t much to talk about, but as a spectacle the game was becoming absorbing. Oli Jager and Andrew Porter were having an incredible battle at the scrum, as the teams traded two penalties apiece at the set-piece. At the lineout, the conditions were a nightmare for the hookers, as defences continually disrupted the throw.
On 31 minutes Munster scrum-half Craig Casey was sent to the sin-bin for a tip-tackle on Larmour, and from the resulting penalty Leinster got themselves a maul five metres out.
With Munster a man down and the Leinster maul moving towards the line, a try seemed inevitable, but somehow the hosts managed to hold them out. It was a defensive stop that felt more like a score for Graham Rowntree’s side, and when Nankivell followed it up two minutes later by winning a penalty on his own 22, Thomond Park grew louder and louder as Munster slogged their way to the half time break just six points down.
The second half started as a mirror image of the first, as Munster earned a pair of early penalties. Having turned down a shot at the posts first time round, Crowley called for the tee when McCarthy was penalised for not rolling away on 44 minutes, but pushed his kick wide and right.
Six minutes later the out-half made amends, cutting the Leinster lead to 6-3 with a strike from 42 metres, Leinster having given up another penalty at the scrum.
The rain and wind was unrelenting, and the errors were popping up one after another. On 53 minutes Porter was penalised for going off his feet at a ruck, only for Crowley to miss the touchline with his kick for the corner. Moments later, it was Munster's loosehead Loughman who was pinged for coming in the side, allowing Leinster to launch their first attack of the half, which was snuffed out by Ahern, who won a brilliant jackal penalty just short of his own line.
Leinster had settled into the half but couldn’t make the territory count as Byrne missed two kicks at goal to extend the lead in a four-minute spell; the first striking the right post from the edge of the 22, before the second pulled to the left and wide.
Munster should have punished that inaccuracy, but their lineout was causing them constant stress. A big penalty from Coombes and a kick to the corner from Crowley set them up for a big drive to the line in the 67th minute, but Ryan Baird had other ideas as he scragged the ball back on Leinster’s side.
With five minutes to play, Leinster finally brought Porter and Ala’alatoa off after tireless 75-minute shifts, and their replacements Ed Byrne and Tom Clarkson punished a tired Munster pack who gave up two late scrum penalties.
From the second of those, Byrne slotted the final points between the posts, enough to cap off a hard-earned win for Leo Cullen’s side.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Dave Kilcoyne, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Oli Jager; Edwin Edogbo, Gavin Coombes; Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Jack O'Donoghue.
Replacements: Eoghan Clarke, Jeremy Loughman, Stephen Archer, Brian Gleeson, Alex Kendellen, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Seán O'Brien.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose (capt), Ciarán Frawley, Rob Russell; Harry Byrne, Luke McGrath; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Ala'alatoa; Ross Molony, Joe McCarthy; Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Ed Byrne, Tom Clarkson, Jason Jenkins, Ryan Baird, Ben Murphy, Liam Turner, Will Connors.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU)
