Munster lose out to Leinster in intriguing St. Stephen’s Day Clash

Munster fell to a 34-24 defeat at the hands of Leinster in their Pro 14 tie at a sold out Thomond Park despite a spirited second half display.

Leinster took a 10-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes as Ross Byrne converted an early penalty before he created the opening try of the game with an outstanding cross field kick, which Dan Leavy was on the receiving end of, Byrne then added the extras for his side.

The Leinster out half then made it 13-0 to the visitors before Conor Murray went over to pull Munster to within 8 points.

The home team failed to capitalize on that momentum, though, and went into the half trailing by 22 points on a 27-5 scoreline as Munster were overrun by a youthful Leinster side.

What must have been a stern team talk at the interval saw Munster take to the pitch with a point to prove as first Ian Keatley, and then, Andrew Conway went over, both tries were converted by Keatley as Munster cut Leinster’s lead to 8 points within the opening ten minutes of the second half.

However, it was a Jordan Lamour try that took the wind out of the Thomond Park crowd as he sailed over after 70 minutes to wrap up the bonus point win for Leo Cullen’s charges as they marched on at the top of group B in the Guinness Pro 14 despite a late try from Andrew Conway, who claimed his second of the game and a try bonus point for the reds.

Larmour lands killer blow for @LeinsterRugby in Thomond thriller #MUNvLEI https://t.co/a90jflAzxC pic.twitter.com/q7PjFAn98f

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) December 26, 2017

The loss leaves Munster 12 points adrift of Group A leaders Glasgow in second spot.