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Ten-try Munster crush Sale

25th January 2015 17:07

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Simon Zebo Munster breaks

Double for Munster: Simon Zebo

Munster finished off their European Champions Cup with a 65-10 win over Sale in Sunday's dead rubber at Thomond Park.

Munster amassed an incredible 38 points in the final 15 minutes!

The victory was Munster's 100th in Europe and rounds off a mixed campaign in the competition, while the Sharks were left with plenty of defensive questions to answer.

An even start to the game suggested there'd be little between the two teams. Simon Zebo gave the hosts a perfect start with the game's first try, which Ian Keatley converted, and he struck a penalty shortly after to make it 10-0.

But Nick MacLeod responded in kind to cut the deficit down to seven.

Keatley hit another penalty, but again Sale closed the gap. Winger Tom Arscott touched down for the visitors and MacLeod converted to make it 13-10 with little more than 10 minutes played.

But the scoring opportunities dried up in the minutes that followed, and it wasn't until the opening minutes of the second half that Munster re-affirmed their superiority.

Ivan Dineen made the initial break before feeding Keith Earls, who finished with aplomb.

Keatley converted and this time there'd be no way back for Sale, especially when Munster were awarded a penalty try on 53 minutes to make it 27-10.

But further misery was heaped on the hapless visitors, who shipped an astonishing six tries in the final 15 minutes of the game.

Pat Howard crossed on 66 minutes to begin the procession, and his effort was quickly followed by tries to Zebo, Andrew Conway and Tommy O'Donnell.

The Sharks were shell-shocked but Munster showed no mercy and crossed twice more before the end through Conway and Simon Williams. Keatley and JJ Hanrahan between them converted four of those final six tries to complete a resounding victory, and compound an embarrassing afternoon for Sale.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Tries: Zebo 2, Earls, Penalty try, Howard, Conway 2, O'Donnell, Hanrahan, Williams
Cons: Keatley 4, Hanrahan 3
Pens: Keatley 2
Yellow card: Conway

For Sale:
Try: Arscott
Con: Macleod
Pen: Macleod

Munster: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Peter O'Mahony (c), 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Dave Foley, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guinazu, 17 John Ryan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Ivan Dineen, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Pat Howard

Sale Sharks: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Will Addison, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Nick MacLeod, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Vili Fihaki, 7 David Seymour (c), 6 Mark Easter, 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Andrei Ostrikov, 3 Ross Harrison, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Alberto de Marchi
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 George Nott, 20 Andrew Hughes, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Andy Forsyth

Venue: Thomond Park
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)

Forthcoming Fixtures
Fixture Details
All times are local
LV= Cup
Saturday , February 7
Sale Sharks vs Scarlets 14:00
Cardiff Blues vs Leicester 14:30
London Irish vs Newcastle 15:00
Bath vs Ospreys 15:00
Gloucester vs Harlequins 15:00
Northampton vs Wasps 15:15
Sunday , February 8
Newport Gwent D'gons vs London Welsh 14:30
Saracens vs Exeter 15:00
More LV= Cup fixtures
RBS Six Nations
Friday , February 6
Wales vs England 20:05
Saturday , February 7
Italy vs Ireland 14:30
France vs Scotland 17:00
More RBS Six Nations fixtures
Recent Results
Fixture Details
All times are local
LV= Cup
Sunday , February 1
Wasps 42 - 45 Cardiff Blues
London Welsh 15 - 20 Saracens
Newport Gwent D'gons 32 - 37 Exeter
Newcastle 39 - 19 Sale Sharks
Saturday , January 31
Harlequins 21 - 23 Bath
Leicester 17 - 8 Northampton
Scarlets 27 - 18 London Irish
Gloucester 32 - 25 Ospreys
More LV= Cup results
International Match
Friday , January 30
Ireland A 9 - 18 England Saxons Ireland A vs England Saxons Report
More International Match results
European Rugby Champions Cup
Sunday , January 25
Bath 20 - 15 Glasgow Bath vs Glasgow Report
Montpellier 27 - 26 Toulouse Montpellier vs Toulouse Report
Munster 65 - 10 Sale Sharks Munster vs Sale Sharks Report
Clermont Auvergne 18 - 6 Saracens
More European Rugby Champions Cup results
European Rugby Challenge Cup
London Welsh 12 - 17 Lyon Olympique London Welsh vs Lyon Olympique Report
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European Rugby Champions Cup
Saturday , January 24
Castres 19 - 47 Harlequins Castres vs Harlequins Report
Wasps 20 - 20 Leinster Wasps vs Leinster Report
Benetton Treviso 23 - 20 Ospreys Benetton Treviso vs Ospreys Report
Northampton 8 - 32 Racing Metro 92 Northampton vs Racing Metro 92 Report
Ulster 26 - 7 Leicester Ulster vs Leicester Report
Scarlets 3 - 26 Toulon Scarlets vs Toulon Report
More European Rugby Champions Cup results
European Rugby Challenge Cup
Grenoble 3 - 28 Cardiff Blues Grenoble vs Cardiff Blues Report
Newport Gwent D'gons 30 - 19 Stade Francais
La Rochelle 20 - 30 Connacht
Exeter 45 - 3 Bayonne
Bucuresti 10 - 52 Newcastle
More European Rugby Challenge Cup results
Aviva Premiership Table
Pos Team P Pts
1 Northampton 13 48
2 Bath 13 47
3 Saracens 13 39
4 Wasps 13 36
5 Exeter 13 35

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