Munster end on a high
Munster capped off their title-winning Magners League season with a 36-10 victory over the Ospreys at Thomond Park.
Last Updated: 16/05/09 11:40am
Munster capped off their title-winning Magners League season with a 36-10 victory over the Ospreys at Thomond Park.
Already assured of the title before kick-off, Munster secured their third victory over the Ospreys this season thanks to tries from Paul Warwick, David Wallace (two), Denis Leamy and Anthony Horgan.
The result also saw Federico Pucciariello, John O'Sullivan, Mike Prendergast, Kieran Lewis, Frankie Sheahan and Horgan end their Munster careers on a triumphant note, the latter two after 12 years with their home province.
In what was Sean Holley's last game in charge of the Ospreys, James Hook kept himself in the running for a late Lions call-up with a 10-point haul.
Ronan O'Gara kicked off the scoring in the fourth minute with a penalty after Jonathan Spratt had strayed offside, however Hook succeeded with his second penalty attempt to level the scores.
Munster struck for the opening try on 15 minutes when Niall Ronan ripped the ball free from his opposite number Marty Holah, setting off a fluid attack which ended with Warwick handing off debutant David Evans and racing 40 metres in behind the posts.
Momentum
O'Gara converted but Holley's men reacted strongly and looked certain to score a try on 26 minutes, after an initial break from captain Ryan Jones, but a dropped pass from Spratt spoiled the attack.
Six minutes before half-time, Hook did the business with an opportunist score. A ball off the top of a lineout from Holah saw Filo Tiatia link with Hibbard and as the hooker was tackled, the ball squirted out perfectly for the advancing Hook to gather, hand off O'Gara and dive over under the posts.
Hook's conversion levelled the scores at 10-10 but Munster gathered serious momentum off the restart and after a good hit at a close range scrum from Tony Buckley, number eight Wallace pounced off the base to muscle his way over the whitewash.
Wallace's unconverted effort put Munster 15-10 ahead at the break and the newly-crowned champions upped the gears in the third quarter.
They scored two tries in the space of three minutes through Leamy, who spun out of two tackles to dot down from metres out, and Wallace, who profited from some excellent interplay which included a midfield break from Peter Stringer and a powerful run from Denis Fogarty.
Fogarty was back in defence to help force a knock-on from Beck as the Ospreys winger dived over the try-line, while Tiatia missed out on a try thanks to some committed defending from Ian Dowling.
Munster lost Wallace to the sin-bin for hands in the ruck but fittingly, amid a raft of replacements, Horgan, in only his fourth competitive appearance of the season, took a great line off a Kieran Lewis pass to gallop through for his last try in red.
