Following last week’s full five points against Cheetahs, the Scarlets faced another must-win game with Munster the opponents in a replay of the 2017 Pro12 final. Kieron Fonotia was handed the captaincy for the first time as Jake Ball was retained by Wales.
Leigh Halfpenny again started at Full Back after being released from the Welsh squad, along with Rhys Patchell, Steff Evans, Wyn Jones and Ryan Elias.
Despite the dismal weather conditions and threat of storm Freya it was a sizable crowd that saw the hosts’ defense see off an early threat from Munster, however the visitors opened the scoring with Bill Johnston slotting over a simple penalty from right in front of the posts to give them the lead by 0 points to 3.
With the ball like a bar of soap, handling proved difficult for both sides and the Scarlets thought they’d scored the first try of the evening, however the referee, Mike Adamson called them back for the knock-on, despite Fonotia chasing the loose ball and touching down over the whitewash.
A break from Halfpenny set up a great attacking position for the Scarlets. The home team worked through the phases before the ball was released to Ioan Nicholas who crossed for the opening try of the evening. After checking with the TMO, the score was awarded. Halfpenny added the conversion with a little help from the posts to put the Scarlets in the lead by 7 points to 3.
Following a delay whilst Dan Davis was down injured and subsequently substituted, Munster were on the attack. Driving after securing the line-out, they kept the ball tight among the forwards as they inched closer to the whitewash. Opting to take the ball quickly rather than kick for another 3 easy points, Munster continued their attack, aided by Adamson who seemingly missed a blatant knock-on. Solid defending from the Scarlets saw them awarded for their efforts as they turned the ball over in the breakdown and kicked play out of the 22.
It was an immense defensive display that Defense Coach, Byron Hayward, must have been extremely proud of, as the Scarlets dealt with wave after wave of Munster attack, but the Irishmen could find no gap in the wall of Scarlet.
Disappointingly after sustaining all that pressure, the Scarlets were penalised for off-side. Johnston added a second penalty to bring Munster back to within a point on the stroke of half time…7 points to 6.
The second half began in a far more positive manner for the Scarlets as it was their turn to press the Munster defense. Despite being inches from the try line, the home team opted to kick the points, with Halfpenny adding a further penalty from right in front of the posts to extend their lead to 10 points to 6.
A bizarre penalty against Ioan Nicholas for a legitimate tackle offered Munster another promising attacking position as they opted to kick for the corner. From the lineout it appeared that Munster had squeezed over in the corner to re-take the lead, however Adamson consulted the TMO, who, following lengthy discussion disallowed the score.
A break from Darren Sweetnam saw the Wing racing towards the try line but he was eventually brought down, however, Munster retained possession and again tested the Scarlets’ defense.
As the clock ticked towards the end of the game, a testing box kick from replacement Scrum Half, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne was fumbled by Mike Haley which resulted in the Scarlets securing a scrum in the Munster 22 it looked likely that the hosts would finish the match in the right area of the field.
However, Munster set up a tense final couple of minutes with a long penalty touch finder that saw them right on the edge of the Scarlets’ 22.
It was edge of the seat stuff as Munster battled for a last-gasp try to snatch victory as the home team continued with the best defensive effort for a very long, led by man of the match, Uzair Cassiem who completed a very impressive 30 tackles, nailing his opponent every single time.
To the huge relief of the majority of the 8,032 crowd, 15 seconds before the final whistle the Scarlets managed to turn the ball over to secure an important victory by 10 points to 6, that has very much boosted their Play-off aspirations, particularly with Benetton continuing their impressive form and coming out victorious over Edinburgh in Treviso.
It may not have been a typical Scarlets display of attacking rugby, the weather conditions dictated that, but the heroic efforts of the matchday 23 out-muscled the physical Munster team. Judging by the reaction from the Scarlets coaching team on the final whistle, with Wayne Pivac jumping to his feet and punching the air, it was plainly obvious just how much that victory had meant to the whole squad.
With the return of the Six Nations next week, the Scarlets have a break for the next couple of weeks but will travel to the Arms Park on March 23rd to face the Cardiff Blues.
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