Munster 20

Edinburgh 19

After a brash attempt to attack the blindside Munster receive a penalty and take it quick. Munster showed their intelligence as they took the penalty quickly and kicked deep in to Edinburgh’s half. Unfortunately for returning Lion Darcy Graham he was unable to control the ball as it bounced, and was picked up by Munster who ran in for the score.

Edinburgh showed their determination and patience as they bided their time in front of Munsters goal line. A well executed maul levelled the game through Ewan Ashman.

There was a lack of cohesion within in the Munster team whereas Edinburgh displayed strong intent on both sides of the ball. This was clear as they found themselves on Munster’s doorstep executing some short hard carries. This was finished off by a quick dive on to the line by Vellacott to give Edinburgh the lead.

The momentum was in Edinburgh’s favour within the first twenty minutes until Glen Young and Darcy Rae both picked up yellow cards for offside and a high tackle.

Munster capitalised on the two man advantage and broke down a weakened Edinburgh defence with quick carries and Edinburgh just couldn’t cope with the pressure. Munster prop barrelled over with a mismatch against James Lang. Edinburgh were holding on to a slim lead after thirty minutes.

A noteworthy leak in Edinburgh’s game during the first half was fly half Ben Healy with mistakes on both sides of the ball. These errors stunted the flow of his sides attack and cost them valuable metres in defence. Healy has been trying to bring himself back into contention for that starting ten shirt over the last season but has struggled to gain minutes, starting only four games across all competitions last season.

HT: MUNSTER 10 – 12 EDINBURGH

It was an emphatic start to the second half by Edinburgh with energetic carries and a varied attack. This shone through as they took the home side through the phases until James Lang, acting as a second distributor, executes a perfect cross kick for Darcy Graham who picked it out the air to run in Edinburgh’s third try.

Munster pulled the game a little closer with a score from Milne who picked up his second of the game. This was a much needed boost but it still left them with lots do against a physical Edinburgh defence.

Edinburgh were unable to maintain discipline as Freddy Douglas was given the first yellow card of his professional career for an illegal steal.

It all collapsed for Edinburgh as Munster fed off of their constant penalties made their way up to the corner. Munster were fortunate in finding a one man advantage after Paterson went down with an injury putting Edinburgh on the back foot. Several big and fast carries by Munster was all it took to puncture their oppositions defence. This late score put Munster in the lead by one point.

It was an emotional rollercoaster as Edinburgh conceded a try that was later disallowed. Their efforts were valiant to make it as far up the pitch as they did but after an error in the maul Munster won the ball to conclude the game and continue their unbeaten streak.

Drawing from the positives, Edinburgh bought an incredible level of physical intensity in attack and defence which for a large portion of the game convinced viewers they were taking the win. However, they just couldn’t stay disciplined and gave Munster too many opportunities to capitalise on and bring themselves back in to the game.

A key point was there inability to get the ball wide and utilise their star wingers. This is unfortunately a common theme in recent times and something that if Sean Everitt can correct it would make them a very difficult team to beat

FT: MUNSTER 20 – 19 EDINBURGH

MOTM: Tom Farrell (Munster)

Yellow cards:

Munster –

Edinburgh – G.Young (29”), D.Rae (31”), F.Douglas (65”), (70”M.Bradbury)

MOTM:

Scoring timeline (Edinburgh first): 0-5, 5-5, 5-12, 12-10, HT, 19-10, 19-15, 19-20, FT