Munster Defeat Gloucester At Musgrave Park

Friday, 27 August 2010 21:26

A try in each half saw Munster get their season up and running with a 15-10 win over Gloucester at Musgrave Park.

View images from the game here

The first try came in the 35th minute, at a stage when the visitors held a 7-3 lead, when Tommy O'Donnell took a superb line-out ball - after a fine Paul Warwick touchfind- ten metres out for the pack to rush irresistibly for the line with Wian du Preez getting the vital touchdown.

And the second came early in the second half, the Munster pack again showing their mauling prowess, for Quinlan to cap a fine personal performance with a try that was good enough to win this match. However, it did require a last gasp Felix Jones tackle to prevent Gloucester tying the game and possibly snatching a winner.

Munster coach Tony McGahan said he felt his side had stepped up on their previous performance: !We were disappointed with the outcome last week and there was a desire to improve on that. I think we achieved that objective. I think they worked very hard out there. There were some good individual performances but overall it was a good squad effort and gives us a boost going into the competitive arena next week."

Munster opened with a Warwick penalty after 13 minutes and looked threatening when the got the ball to debutant Johne Murphy and returning (from injury) duo Doug Howlett and Felix Jones.

A period of Gloucester pressure ended with a try for Tim Taylor who hacked through and followed up to score under the posts. The du Preez try converted by Warwick gave the home side a half time lead and Quinlan's extended in the 3rd minute of the second.

Taylor narrowed the gap with a 62nd minute penalty and then we had the best move of the game, replacement Scott Deasy setting Danny Barnes free who in turn off loaded to Jones whose marvellous break merited a try but ended just short.

Munster: F Jones; D Howlett; J Murphy, S Tuitupou, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley; I Nagle, D Ryan; A Quinlan, T O'Donnell, D Leamy (capt). Replacements: D Fogarty, Dave Ryan, S Archer, M O'Driscoll, N Ronan, P O'Mahony, B Holland, D Williams, D Barnes, S Deasy, S Zebo, I Dineen.
Gloucester Rugby: O Morgan; J Simpson-Daniel, T Molenaar, E Fuimaono-Sapolu, T Voyce; T Taylor, R Lawson; A Dickinson, S Lawson, P Capdevielle; W James, A Brown; A Strokosch, A Hazell, L Narraway (capt). Replacements: Darren Dawidiuk, Yann Thomas, Rupert Harden, Dave Attwood, Brett Deacon, Jordi Pasqualin, Henry Trinder, Charlie Sharples, Matt Cox, Peter Buxton, Jonny May.

Source: Munsterrugby.ie