Four tries and a bonus point helped Munster to victory in a power-packed
display against Gloucester at a full-to-capacity Thomond Park.
A hat-trick of first-half tries, two of which were finished off by loosehead
prop Marcus Horan, and 15 points from Ronan O'Gara were the key factors as the
west country side were completely outplayed at set-pieces and in the loose.
An early penalty miss by outside-half O'Gara seemed to bring Gloucester into
the game and a right-to-left penalty from the boot of centre Henry Paul - scorer
of 17 points last Saturday - from 28 metres put the visitors in front.
Paul went on to repeat his feat twice more in the opening period, with
identical and equally effortless-looking kicks on 27 and 37 minutes, but those
three penalties proved to be the only indiscretions on Munster's penalty count
in the opening 40 minutes.
It was the mid-point of the half which swung the tie so favourably towards the
hosts as Gloucester hooker Chris Fortey, just back from suspension, saw yellow
for repeated rucking offences. A pick-and-drive off a Munster scrum 20 metres
from the visitors' line saw first Anthony Foley and then skipper Jim Williams
take out the Gloucester tacklers with Horan eventually scoring the the try.
With the Zurich Premiership side working off little possession, Munster's
front eight scrambled over off a 20-metre drive with hooker and man-of-the-match
Frankie Sheahan unearthed as the scorer, his sixth Heineken Cup effort, in the
34th minute. Munster's 12-6 lead was cut by Paul's third penalty but a clever
short penalty tap by Horan saw Junior Paramore fail to hold off the front row as
Gloucester conceded a third try, converted by O'Gara for a 19-9 half-time
advantage.
Munster's proud unbeaten record at the Limerick venue in European competition
never looked in doubt, but Gloucester full-back John Goodridge stormed over for
his side's only try on 48 minutes, picking his line perfectly past the weary
tackles of Horan and Sheahan. Paul's conversion attempt was wayward and three
minutes later, with the scores at 22-14, a cynical knock-on by the New
Zealand-born centre saw him sin-binned.
A forward pass by Shaun Payne robbed Horan of a glorious hat-trick of tries in
the 62nd minute, but with centre Mike Mullins exposing Gloucester in open play
they ran in a fourth with 11 minutes remaining as John Kelly swept over in the
right corner.
The win moved Munster back level with Gloucester in Pool 5, but ahead on try
count, with an away trip to Treviso next Saturday for the Irish side. Nigel
Melville's men have the trickier away visit to Bourgoin.
Teams:
Munster: Payne, Kelly, Mullins, Henderson, Horgan, O'Gara,
Stringer, Horan, F. Sheahan, J. Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell,
Williams, Wallace, Foley.
Not Used: Blaney, McIlwham, Pusey, Keogh, Reddan, Staunton,
Holland.
Tries: Kelly, Horan 2, F. Sheahan.
Cons: O'Gara 3.
Pens: O'Gara 3.
Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Fanolua, Paul, Simpson-Daniel,
McRae, Gomarsall, Woodman, Fortey, Deacon, Brown, Cornwell,
Boer, Buxton, Paramore.
Not Used: Collins, Vickery, Roncero, Eustace, Forrester, Page,
Todd.
Tries: Goodridge.
Pens: Paul 3.
Att: 12,000
Ref: Joel Jutge (France).
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