Scarlets Topple Table Toppers Munster

by Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

Following a narrow win last week, the Scarlets hoped to celebrate St David’s Day in style with a much needed win against Rabo Direct table toppers Munster.

With every Non and Dewi offered free entry to the match in honour of our Patron Saint, a decent crowd welcomed the teams onto the pitch that included the returning Jonathan Davies who would hopefully also be fit to face England in the Six Nations next weekend.

A strong start from the Scarlets saw Davies power his way in the Munster 22 as his team worked through the phases attempting to get some points on the board early on, however, Munster Full Back Simon Zebo soon had his team out of danger as he ran straight through the Scarlets defence as though they weren’t there.

The Scarlets were offered the first opportunity to score some points after 11 minutes following an excellent passage of play that saw both forwards and backs keeping possession as they easily crossed the gain line, but they lacked that final scoring pass.

The home side were finally on the score board when Centre Olly Barkley made no mistake in kicking his first points for the club to give the Welsh region a 3 points to 0 advantage.

Unfortunately Munster Outside Half Ian Keatley was also successful with his first penalty attempt a matter of seconds later to equalise – 3 points all.

Despite the score line, the Scarlets played all the rugby for the opening quarter, for the most part in the Munster half and the Irish Province were unable to get their hands on the ball. However, on more than one occasion it was the finish that let the home team down.

The crowd finally had something to cheer about when the League’s leading try scorer, Gareth Davies managed to just keep his toes out of touch as he took the blind side route to cross in the corner. Barkley knew as soon as he struck the ball that his conversion attempt was sailing wide, but finally the huge amount of possession had become points with the Scarlets leading 8 points to 3.

Munster’s first try of the evening came totally against the run of play – a poor pass to the shoe laces of Olly Barkley from Aled Thomas allowed Centre Denis Hurley the luxury of advantage to run in under the posts. Keatley’s conversion opened up a 2 point lead to give Munster the lead for the first time – 8 points to 10.

Buoyed by their sudden lead, Munster began to play rugby for the first time in the match and soon found themselves in unfamiliar territory – the Scarlets 22.

Keatley was offered the chance to further increase his team’s lead with a penalty attempt right in front of the posts, much to the disgust of the home supporters who were very vocal in expressing their thoughts of the decision. His easy penalty unbelievably gave the visitors a 13 point to 8 half time advantage.

The wrath of the crowd continued right at the start of the second half as Jonathan Davies was penalised by Irish Referee Dudley Phillips right from the re-start for apparently taking a player out in the air when replays showed that he did nothing of the sort. Whether it was karma or the off-putting thunderous booing of the crowd, but Outside Half Keatley missed with his penalty attempt.

Great vision from Wing Frazier Climo saw him race down the touch line before chipping ahead and then getting his tackle in which secured the penalty. Rather than attempt the extra points, the Scarlets opted to kick for the corner, however a mix up in the line out left them yielding a free kick.

Aled Thomas scored the first points of the second half following an offside decision from the referee. His successful penalty brought the home team to within 2 points – 11 points to 13.

However, in the good old days in Stradey Park, the scoreboard workers would have had trouble keeping up as John Barclay accepted the interception pass to speed down the field like a train before crossing under the posts for the try! Thomas added the conversion to re-gain the lead for the home team – 18 points to 13.

In a reverse to the first half, it was the visitors that was beginning to play rugby with little reward as the Scarlets defensive wall held firm. Poor handling from the Munstermen aided the Scarlets in their quest to defend their lines.

Munster did manage to cross the line for what they believed was their second try of the evening; however, the TMO confirmed that the ball had indeed been knocked on at the base of the ruck. This was almost an exact replica of the move that earned Munster the home victory back in December, however, on that occasion, the TMO had concluded that he could see no reason not to reward the try, so it was a welcome relief to see a decision going the way of the Scarlets for once!

Josh Turnbull was very unlucky to be on the receiving end of a yellow card for a totally unintentional offence which left his team facing a Munster team camped on the Scarlets try line with a man advantage.

For the second time in quick succession the Munstermen crossed the white wash but despite being confident in their scoring of the try, the TMO again ruled against the visitors and they had to make do with a scrum v to hopefully use their extra man and power over.

Superb defence from the Scarlets saw Olly Barkley run out of the danger zone though his attempts were thwarted by a swinging arm and a dangerously high tackle. Incredibly, despite this dangerous play being clear viewing on the screen, the referee took the decision to reverse the original penalty awarded to the Scarlets and instead penalise the home team!

This shocking decision seemed to fire up the home team as they again ran out of their 22 and Munster saw their third possible try go begging to the delight of the home supporters.

In as much as the Scarlets had attacked continuously during the first half of the game, the second half performance was very much a testament to the defensive qualities of the team as they continued to cling on for the final minutes of the game.

With penalty decisions finally going the way of the men in Scarlet, the home team were finally able to play their way into the Munster 22 and hopefully score a try to secure the victory in style.

However, despite being unable to increase their lead, the Scarlets did record a very well deserved victory against Munster, the importance of which was evident.