U19s Fall Short Against Munster

CONNACHT 24 - 40 MUNSTER 

The Connacht U19s showed resilience with a strong second half, but it wasn’t enough for the win as Munster U19s came away with a 40-24 win over the home side today at the Sportsground.

In what was a game of two halves, Munster came out firing on all cylinders, putting on a display of smart and tactical rugby. Within six minutes, Munster had their first try of the game when Daithi Byrnes utilised a hole in the Connacht defensive line and then threw a perfect pass under pressure to a very free Luca Cleary who made it over the line. Gene O’Leary-Kareem kicked the conversion between the posts and from that point, Munster couldn’t be stopped. The Connacht side seemed to be caught completely off-guard, showing their surprise with handling errors, forced mistakes, and poor defensive timing. Munster kept their cool, making everything they did look effortless.

Mason Cawley, Tom Wood, Luke Murphy, and Tom Coughlan all got tries and Gene O’Leary-Kareem continued to kick conversions with ease and soon they were up 35-0 after just 26 minutes. They had caught Connacht on the back-foot and found ways to exploit the weaknesses Connacht showed on offense and defence, utilising all the space on the pitch and creating 4 v 2 defensive situations.  Connacht finally make it to the Munster 5m line and win a penalty. After a few phases of play, Cian Brady flies in from out of nowhere, connecting with a pass and shooting himself over the try line for Connacht’s first try of the game just before halftime. The conversion by Oisin O'Neill is good and Connacht are on the board.

This passage of play seemed to finally wake Connacht from their daze and their momentum continued into the second half. Both the team and the crowd immediately seemed more animated when the second half whistle sounded. Connacht, spurred on by the support and their newfound excitement, got a try 5 minutes into the half after numerous penalties by Munster. Oisin O'Neill once again gets the conversion and the gap had now been closed to a 35-14 lead to Munster. Suddenly, Connacht began to look like a completely different team than in the first half – they were connecting passes under pressure, they were keeping their defensive line, and were even forcing Munster to make mistakes similar to those made by Connacht in the first half. The game remained scoreless until the 27^th minute of the half when substitute Matt Te Pou collected an off-the-shoulder pass from his teammate. The conversion was missed, and the score stood at 40-14 to Munster. In the process of the try, Connacht’s Bryan Walsh suffered a dislocated shoulder and had to be brought off in a stretcher. However, he laughed and gave a thumbs up to the crowd on his way out, lightening the mood and enabling his teammates to focus on the rest of the game.

Three minutes later, Connacht’s Sean Power got the ball in the Connacht half and ran it all the way over the Munster try line to add more points to his team’s tally in impressive style. Eoin Geraghty missed the conversion, but Connacht had closed the gap to 40-19. In the last few minutes of the game, Orin Burke (who had been playing brilliantly all game) made a great run up the wing, dancing around Munster defenders and passing the ball off to a Connacht player on his shoulder. The ball eventually found its way to Gerard Murtagh who placed the ball over the try line for the final try of the game. A complete turn-around by Connacht U19s in the second half, but unfortunately it was not enough to take the win. Final score: Munster 40 – 24 Connacht.

Subs:

Connacht – 20 Niall Tallon on for 6 Max Flynn (injury) at 29 minutes. 17 Arann Platt and 18 Shay Phillips on at halftime for 1 Sean Hopkins and 3 George Ukwuoma. 16 Sean Rohan on for 2 Ryan Smith at 11 minutes into the 2^nd half. 19 Bryan Walsh on for number 8 Bobby Power (injury) at 13 minutes into the 2^nd half. 22 Caden Grant and 23 Seand Power on for 13 Stefan Roche and 14 Harry Duffy at 19 minutes into the 2^nd half. 19 Bryan Walsh off (injury) and 2 Ryan Smith back on at 27 minutes into the 2^nd half.

Munster – 20 Ted O’Callaghan and 22 Gavin O’Riordan on for 8 Luke Murphy and 10 Tom Wood at 6 minutes into the 2^nd half. 21 Marcus Lyons on for 9 Luca Cleary at 11 minutes into the 2^nd half. 16 Arron Roulston on for 7 Cormac Quinn at 17 minutes into the 2^nd half. 17 Harry Gleeson, 18 Mark Fitzgerald, and 23 Matt Te Pou on for 1 Darragh O’Connell, 3 Emmet Calvey, and 11 Mason Cawley at 20 minutes into the 2^nd half. 19 Callum Black on for 4 Michael Foy at 24 minutes into the 2^nd half.

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