Five try Munster beat Gloucester at Thomond Park

Munster earned their first Champions Cup win of the season with a convincing 36-22 bonus point win over Gloucester at Thomond Park this afternoon.

Tries from Mike Haley, Rhys Marshall, Joey Carbery, Sammy Arnold and Andrew Conway saw Johann van Graan’s men over the line but they were helped by the red card shown to Gloucester out half Danny Cipriani on 33 minutes.

Mike Haley scored his first try for Munster with Rhys Marshall also touching down as we lead by 12 at the break.

Gloucester's Danny Cipriani was sent off just before the half hour and a very unfortunate end to the half for Tommy O'Donnell saw him depart with an injury. #MUNvGLO pic.twitter.com/ZM7VIWJsft

— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) October 20, 2018

Munster were sloppy in the opening stages with a couple of misplaced lineouts but finally got into Gloucester territory when Marshall atoned for his earlier errors with a brilliantly won penalty at the breakdown, however the play broke down after a CJ Stander knock on.

The away side were then reduced to 14 men when Tom Savage was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Dan Goggin and Munster soon took advantage.

Darren Sweetnam made the initial break on the left wing and passed the ball inside to Williams. He had Tommy O’Donnell on the inside but the scrum half didn’t see him and was tackled short of the line.

Munster celebrate a try from Rhys Marshall. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

However, Munster soon left the ball out to the backs when it was recycled and Haley went in for his first Munster try to put his side 5-0 up after 21 minutes.

Cipriani immediately responded for Gloucester with a long range penalty but his day was soon over after referee Alexandre Ruiz showed him a red card for a high hit on Rory Scannell. Carbery kicked the easy penalty after the Gloucester out half was sent off.

Danny Cipriani has been sent off 🔴

He knew straight away he was going to be shown red for this tackle.

He apologised on his way off but his week has gone from bad to worse… pic.twitter.com/XGga2MHz2P

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 20, 2018

Gloucester were lucky not to be reduced to 13 men moments later as Billy Twelvetrees landed another high tackle. This time it was Carbery that was the recipient but referee Ruiz deemed that the challenge only warranted a penalty.

Carbery kicked to the corner and Marshall dotted down after a devastating Munster maul decimated the Gloucester defence. The former Leinsterman nailed the conversion to give Munster a 15-3 lead at the break.

Munster kept up the pressure on the restart and added a third try on 50 minutes. Pressure on the Gloucester lineout saw Munster earn a scrum and then a couple of penalties, before Carbery dived over from close range. The same man added the extras to put his side into a 22-3 lead.

Bonus point ✔️
Bit of magic from Joey Carbery ✔️#ChampionsCup #VMSport pic.twitter.com/d2x66WdcZP

— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) October 20, 2018

That was soon at 29-3 as Arnold went in from just inside the Gloucester ’22 after more sublime hands from Carbery and Haley in the build up. Again, Carbery made no mistake from the kicking tee.

Former Munster second row Gerbrandt Grobler, Gloucester full back Jason Woodward and Ben Morgan got in for consolation tries for the Kingsholm outfit in the final quarter but Munster’s fifth try through Conway gave Munster the win.

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Dan Goggin, Rory Scannell, Darren Sweetnam, Joey Carbery, Duncan Williams; James Cronin, Rhys Marshall, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O’Mahony, Tommy O’Donnell, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Dave Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer, Billy Holland, Arno Botha, Alby Mathewson, JJ Hanrahan, Sam Arnold.

GLOUCESTER: Jason Woodward; Matt Banahan, Billy Twelvetrees, Mark Atkinson, Tom Marshall; Danny Cipriani, Callum Braley; Val Rapava Ruskin, Franco Marais, Josh Hohneck; Tom Savage, Ed Slater; Freddie Clarke, Jake Polledri, Ben Morgan.

Replacements: Henry Walker, Ciaran Knight, Fraser Balmain, Gerbrandt Grobler, Gareth Evans, Ben Vellacott, Owen Williams, Tom Hudson.

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)