MUNSTER SNATCHED A draw right at the death away to Benetton in the United Rugby Championship [URC] this afternoon.
Tom Ahern scored an 80th-minute try and Joey Carbery added the extras to make it 13-13 at the finish in Treviso.
Carbery kicked eight points for Graham Rowntree’s side, who were extremely off-colour after opening their title defence with a bonus point win over the Sharks.
Full-time: Benetton Treviso 13-13 Munster
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 29, 2023
Thomas Ahern's late, late try and Joey Carbery's conversion sees Munster scrape a draw against Benetton Treviso in the URC. pic.twitter.com/OyqaWhgXY5
Benetton — with Malakai Fekitoa in their XV — powered into a 6-3 lead after two Jacob Umaga penalties, before they were boosted by a Rhyno Smith try which ultimately made it 13-3 at half time.
That scoreline stood until the 73rd minute, when Carbery kicked Munster to within seven. Rowntree’s men had a try disallowed by the TMO down the home straight for a knock-on, but replacement Ahern eventually helped his side to a draw on the road.
“Well it took us to the last five minutes to get a draw, and we did well to get a draw,” Rowntree told RTÉ afterwards.
“I thought that was a very good performance by Treviso. For 63 minutes, we just couldn’t break them down, but we showed a lot of composure there as a team to stay in the game. That, I’m pleased about, but we’ll have a good look at our game. We’ve got to be more clinical and more accurate.
“We were under immense pressure from a very good team and they made us make mistakes. We’ve got to look at how we can not make those mistakes.”
Jack O’Dononghue echoed his head coach’s sentiments.
“We made a lot of mistakes out there. A lot of handling errors. A few passes didn’t go to hand and we found ourselves scrambling a bit, but incredibly proud of the lads to come away with a draw. To dig deep to get a try at the end is massive for us going into next week.
“Discipline was a major factor for us in the first half. In fairness to Benetton, they capitalised on our mistakes. It’s a game of fine margins like that. Look, we’ll have a good, honest review, we’ll look at it and look forward to next week.”
A strong push from the lads in the final 10 minutes sees us come away with the draw.
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) October 29, 2023
Tom Ahern with the crucial try at the end with Joey Carbery kicking eight points.
Well done @BenettonRugby on a tough game. #BENvMUN #SUAF 🔴 pic.twitter.com/VQvsQz8uxw
BENETTON: R Smith; I Mendy, M Fekitoa, F Drago, E Padovani; J Umaga (T Albornoz 60), A Uren; M Spagnolo (F Zani 50), G Lucchesi (G Nicotera 50), G Zilocchi (T Pasquali 50); E Iachizzi, E Snyman; A Izekor (G Koegelenberg 65), M Zuliani (M Zanon 72), T Halafihi (H Time-Stowers 46).
MUNSTER: S Daly; S McCarthy (S O’Brien 54), A Frisch, R Scannell (A Nankivell 49), C Nash; J Carbery, E Coughlan (P Patterson 51); K Ryan (M Donnelly 65), D Barron (S Buckley 65), S Archer (J Ryan 49); E Edogbo, F Wycherley (T Ahern 57); J O’Donoghue, J Hodnett (A Kendellan 49), G Coombes.
Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa).
Written by The 42 Team and posted on the42.ie
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