Murray sniffs out two tries to help Munster claim bonus point win over Edinburgh

Munster 28

Edinburgh 14

MUNSTER’S SCRUM DID all the damage at Thomond Park, but two first-half tries for Conor Murray set Munster on the road to a bonus point victory.

Replacement Conor Oliver scored his first Munster try early in the second-half, while Dave O’Callaghan clinched the fourth in the 57^th minute – both scores put on a plate by the outstanding Tyler Bleyendaal.

After Chris Dean’s opening try midway though the first-half, Edinburgh clawed to within two converted tries when John Hardie crossed 13 minutes from time, but Rassie Erasmus’ side held solid for the win.

Keith Earls shakes hands with Hamish Watson post-match. Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO

Munster lost Jack O’Donoghue to a head injury after 13 minutes, in a n incident that saw Edinburgh lock Fraser McKenzie sin-binned, but it was the Scottish side that finished the sin-bin period celebrating as Dean collected a loose ball from the side of a midfield ruck and cruised home to the corner in the 23rd minute.

Jack O’Donoghue stretchered off in the first-half, but was seen walking after the final whistle in Thomond Park. Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO

Munster though, built on early dominance at the set-piece and Murray had a simple task to score as Edinburgh’s scrum back-pedaled in the 27^th minute.

Bleyendaal’s conversion made it 7-7, and just before the interval a big shove from the Munster eight drove Edinburgh backwards near their own line. The home side forced the knock-on behind the Edinburgh try-line and Niall Scannell popped a pass to Murray to score his second. Bleyendaal had missed an early penalty for Munster, but landed his second conversion to make it 14-7 for the home side at the break.

Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO

Oliver cantered in Munster’s third try two minutes into the second-half when Bleyendaal carried well into the tackle and then offloaded to the flanker on the left.

Bleyendaal was on the mark with the conversion from wide on the left to make it 21-7 for the home side. And from there to the end they bludgeoned their visitors in search of the bonus point.