Rain, a ground where Munster had won both of the Sharks’ previous visits, and a midfield without its first-choice centres. It had all the look of a long, cold night for the men from Durban. It turned into history instead.
The Munster v Sharks result: Munster 3, Sharks 15, in round five of the United Rugby Championship (URC). SA Rugby magazine, Rugby365, RTÉ and The Irish Times, all writing after the final whistle, agree on the score, the 5-3 half-time lead and the scorers. It is the Sharks’ first win at Thomond Park, and RTÉ and The Irish Times count it as only their second in 13 visits to Ireland.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Result | Munster 3-15 Sharks |
| Half-time | Munster 3-5 Sharks |
| Sharks tries | Gianni Lombard, Ivan van Zyl |
| Sharks kicks | Lombard 1 conversion, 1 penalty |
| Munster kicks | JJ Hanrahan 1 penalty |
| Yellow card | Ox Nche (Sharks) |
| Player of the match | Zekhethelo Siyaya (Sharks) |
| Referee | Ben Connor (Wales) |
| Venue | Thomond Park, Limerick |
| Kick-off | 19:30 SAST (17:30 local) |
Siyaya’s bounce and Munster’s missed chances
The first try came from the full-back. Zekhethelo Siyaya skipped past defenders, kicked ahead into the Munster 22, and the ball sat up awkwardly for the home side. Flyhalf Gianni Lombard gathered and scored after 14 minutes, by The Irish Times’ timing, though he could not add the extras. Siyaya nearly had one of his own a little later, but this time the bounce did not go his way.
Munster had the ball for most of the half. The Irish Times puts their share at 61 per cent before the break. They did very little with it. Alex Nankivell knocked on close to the line, hooker Marnus van der Merwe and lock Fineen Wycherley were held short, and their lineout kept misfiring. Just before the interval they finally took the points, and JJ Hanrahan’s penalty made it 5-3.
Munster v Sharks result: fourteen men finish the job
Lombard stretched the lead to 8-3 with a penalty in the second half, won by Ox Nche at scrum time, as RTÉ described it. Then Nche went to the sin bin a few minutes before the hour, for a shoulder to the head of replacement prop Jeremy Loughman at a ruck.
A man down, the Sharks scored the try that settled it. Lock Emile van Heerden stole a Munster lineout, captain Nick Hatton made the break and replacement scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl went over. Lombard converted for 15-3, and that was the last score of the night. SA Rugby magazine counted 148 Sharks tackles, made at 86 per cent, and credits them with winning the kicking battle in the wet.
Munster coach Clayton McMillan did not dress it up. “We take no satisfaction from where we sit on the table,” he said, as reported by The Irish Times. He called it the first game this season in which his side “hadn’t put ourselves in a position to legitimately win the game”.
Why it matters
Four points take the Sharks from the 15 they had in our round five preview to 19, and SA Rugby magazine has them fourth going into the November break. That is two behind the Stormers and the Bulls, who both won with a bonus point at home earlier on Saturday.
It is also, by SA Rugby magazine’s count, the first time the Sharks have won back-to-back URC games overseas, a week after their bonus-point win in Cardiff. They did it without André Esterhuizen and Jurenzo Julius, both hurt in Cardiff, and with a late change in the back row: Tino Mavesere started in place of Matt Romao.
Our view: nobody will be framing this one for its beauty, and JP Pietersen will not mind in the slightest. Thomond Park in the rain is about as hard an away day as the URC offers. The Sharks defended for long stretches, kicked better than their hosts and found a match-winning score with 14 men. Siyaya’s footwork will make the highlights, but Van Heerden’s lineout steal was the moment the game turned. A side that can win ugly away from home is a side to take seriously come the playoffs.
What comes next
The URC now stops for the November Test window. SA Rugby magazine says the Sharks are next in action at home to the Stormers on 5 December, while Munster travel to Zebre Parma.