By Jonathan Bowen
In what was a historic night at Parc Ui Chaoimh Cork. Munster created history with a 28-14 win against South Africa A. It was a win for the ages and against all the odds. The win meant Munster are the only provincial side in the world to have beaten a national side from Australia, New Zealand and now South Africa.
The match was the first rugby match to be played at the famous Parc Ui Chaoimh GAA ground in Cork and hopefully after the atmosphere and the night that was in it, will not be the last.
Munster came into the game with fire. Munster have always had a history of finding another gear to step up to when playing an international team.
Munster would hit South Africa A early in the match when some great play by them lead to a pass being thrown the Cork native Shane Daly on the wing who, with 30 or so meters of space in front of him, sprinted to the try line to score the first try of the match to the elation of the 41,500 sold out capacity mad Munster fans.
South Africa A were not going to take this game lying down, with ten capped springbok players in the team they meant business and on the 13-minute mark hit back with a well worked try scored in the corner by Aphelele Fassi.
Given Munster’s recent losing record you would have expected the team to roll over after conceding the try but on the 29th minute after some great attacking play, a floating hail Mary pass by Ben Healy to another Cork native Simon Zebo, saw him score a flying try in the corner to extend Munster’s lead.
It was great to see Simon Zebo in form and scoring tries again in the big games. Something he has been renowned for in the past, remember Simon scored the definitive try in Chicago against the All Blacks in 2016 which led to Ireland’s first win against them. Simon is a man for the big games.
Just before halftime, Munster would strike again. With some attacking play and a brilliantly worked rolling maul from an attacking lineout they managed to push South Africa A’s defense backwards across their own try line for Diarmuid Barron to fall off the back of the maul and score the try for Munster. This would give Munster a 21-7 half time lead.
Munster came out in the second half and meant business. After a great attacking kick and chase move which gained Munster significant forward momentum, they retained possession of the ball and played it through the hands until Ben Healy gained possession and put in a deft grubber kick for Mike Haley to run behind the South Africa A defense and score the try.
South Africa would hit back with one final try of the match, but it was Munster’s night. Hopefully for this mad Munster fan, this represents a change in their season’s fortunes as they head into big European matches next month.
The big positive note for the match for Munster was how players like Ben Healy and Mike Haley put in huge performances that will no doubt raise the eyebrows of Ireland’s head coach Andy Farrell who has several injury concerns ahead of a big match against Australia next weekend.
Ireland played Fiji over the weekend. The match represented an opportunity for fringe players to put their hands up for more international game time and represented an opportunity for Tadgh Furlong to be handed the captain’s armband for the first time, an honor well deserved.
Ireland would win the game 35-17 with not a lot of highlights from the game. I saw this game as a tick box game, that represented a chance to give some fringe players an opportunity to prove themselves against a lower ranked test nation. It also provided a chance to test a few training ground moves.
The match was by no means a clinical Irish performance but nor was it a disastrous performance either. Ireland got the job done and there is some work that still need to be done with the fringe players to ensure the Irish team has the necessary depth needed for next year’s World Cup.
Ireland will face Australia next weekend in Dublin in what promises to be a do or die game for Australia. After Australia’s loss to France and Italy on tour so far, a third loss on the trot to Ireland would surely mean the end of Wallabies coach Dave Rennie’s tenure.
The USA men’s rugby team continued its good form in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Dubai, with a solid 49-7 victory over Hong Kong. This win means securing the last qualification spot in next year’s Rugby World Cup goes down to the last game of the tournament against Portugal.
Portugal have so far had wins against Hong Kong (42-14) and Kenya (85-0). Please make the effort on Friday November 18th to watch the game on the rugby network at 10.30 am eastern time and support the Eagles as they attempt to qualify for next year’s Rugby World Cup, The USA Eagles need your support!
Scott Robinson and Ronan O’Gara led the Barbarians in a match at Tottenham Hotspur stadium against the All Blacks XV last weekend. In what was another classic Barbarians game they would go onto win 35-31 against the All Blacks XV which easily accounted for the Ireland A team a few weeks ago in Dublin.
The highlight of the match was when Andy Ellis and Julian Savea stepped forward from the Barbarian’s team line on the halfway line before the game kicked off and preformed the Haka against the All Blacks XV. A moment not to be forgotten quickly. The result was exactly the one Scott Robinson and Ronan O’Gara were looking for as national team’s such as Australia and England may be on the lookout for new national coach sooner than expected!
On a sad note it is worth mentioning the passing of Munster and Irish rugby legend Jerry Holland. Jerry played three times for Ireland and was manager of the Munster side that won the European Cup in 2006. Jerry was a very proud Cork man and is survived by his son Billy Holland who is an Irish and Munster legend in his own right. Jerry will be missed.
If you want to keep up to date with all the latest rugby news you can find me on Instagram @jb052006 or and at twitter@Jonatha25906847.