URC: Munster vs Edinburgh: Matt Currie hat-trick helps visitors land thrilling bonus point victory
02/28/2025 05:58 PM
Munster 28
Edinburgh 34
THIS was a result and performance that virtually nobody saw coming.
Pilloried for their lamentable loss to Zebre at home in their previous outing and without an away win to their name in the URC since April, few gave Edinburgh a chance of upsetting Munster at Virgin Media Park, a venue where the hosts had racked up 10 league wins in a row.
Edinburgh, though, had been the previous team to triumph in Cork in 2019 and surpassed that with this dominant display that was night and day from their tame effort against Zebre just a fortnight earlier.
URC: Glasgow v Ospreys: Adam Hastings starts at full-back in generally settled Warriors line-up
Column: David Ferguson on creating a unified voice in the Borders
Arnold Clark Men's Premiership Round 18 Dream Team
The final scoreline showed the margin of victory to be just six points as Munster offered a late fightback to earn themselves two bonus points.
In truth, though, this was a match Edinburgh had all but sewn up by half-time as they ran in four tries to make sure of their own bonus point with a brand of fast-paced, flowing rugby. Half-back pairing Ben Vellacott and Ross Thompson were key to that uptick in tempo and intensity.
Matt Currie, shifted to the wing due to mounting injuries, collected the man-of-the-match award after running in a hat-trick but there were big performers all around the park for Edinburgh, most notably in the pack where Ben Muncaster and Magnus Bradbury put in a heroic shift as the visitors completely dominated at scrum-time.
Bradbury’s try just before half-time – after quick ball again from Ewan Ashman and Currie – all but sealed a long, overdue win, one that lifts Edinburgh back into the playoff places. They have close to a month's break from competitive action before travelling to play Benetton on March 22. A relatively kind run-in could yet make this a successful campaign but, as Everitt acknowledged, they need to now back up this result.
"We're really happy with the performance," said the head coach. "It's not easy to come to Cork and beat Munster. I'm really happy for the boys and the resilience they've shown over the last couple of weeks.
"When you lose at home there's always a refocus. The players didn't play that well at home [against Zebre] and we didn't execute the opportunities we created. This team is known for bouncing back, whether it's last year against Ulster or at home against Glasgow. And now we've also done it against Munster. But what we really need to work on – and what we have been working on – is our consistency.
"The players have learned now how tough it is to win away from home. They had to put in a gear shift tonight, not just because of the URC log but also, without a lot of our top guys playing, they know they can get extra gametime late in the season if they do well for this team. And they've done that and I'm proud of them."
Currie has been one of Edinburgh's steadiest performers in a trying season and showed alertness, composure and strength to claim his three tries. His first came just five minutes after Thompson's first try for the club – after good build-up play by first Bradbury and then Muncaster – had cancelled out Alex Nankivell's first of two on the night for Munster.
A dominant scrum gave Edinburgh penalty advantage, affording Vellacott the freedom to try an ambitious chip kick through. Munster winger Shay McCarthy ought to have dealt with it but was fooled by the bounce of the ball, allowing the alert Currie to push down for the simplest of tries.
Thompson set up the second with a looping pass wide that Currie gathered, cut inside McCarthy, before stretching for the line. The TMO had a look for a double movement before deciding it was all above board. Currie's third then came just short of the hour mark after Nankivell's second try had briefly threatened to instigate a Munster comeback.
It was again a case of being in the right place in the right time as McCarthy failed to deal with a Thompson up-and-under, the ball scooting kindly for Currie to pick up and saunter over the line.
"Matt has been our most consistent player," added Everitt. "His work-rate on and off the pitch is exceptional. Tonight we had to move him to the wing as we were short in that position with the injuries that we have and he was outstanding. He deservedly got man of the match."
That seemed to be that in terms of the contest, although Munster came back to score twice more through Ben O'Connor and Sean O'Brien either side of Paddy Harrison being shown a yellow card for a high tackle.
That put a more flattering sheen on the scoreline than Munster deserved given how comprehensively they had been outplayed in the first half. And it could have been worse had Italian referee Gianluca Gnecchi brought out his cards for the repeat scrum offences.
"If you can get dominance at the set-piece it makes the whole game easier," added Everitt. "I was quite surprised [there were no yellow cards shown] as there were six or seven set-piece penalties at one stage so I would have thought that might have happened. We did send a message and Ben Vellacott spoke to the referee with regards to that.
"But it's also about safety. You give a yellow card to one of their forwards at scrum time and they'll probably bring on a weaker player. So, it is difficult to manage sometimes as a referee but we're not going to complain about that."
The only sour note from an Edinburgh perspective was the injury sustained by Luke Crosbie straight from kick-off which could now rule him out of any involvement for Scotland in the rest of the Six Nations. "Unfortunately it looks like Luke has torn his pec muscle," confirmed Everitt.
Overall, though, the South African cut a content and perhaps relieved figure after what could turn out to be a significant win for him and his team.
"We know the boys have got it in them. It's about being resilient and relentless in the pressure that you exert on the opposition. We took Munster out of their rhythm. That was the plan and they couldn't play."
Teams –
Munster: B O'Connor; C Nash (S O’Brien 41), T Farrell, A Nankivell, S McCarthy, B Burns (T Butler 61), E Coughlan (P Patterson 52); J Wycherley (M Donnelly 57), N Scannell (D Barron 46), J Ryan (S Archer 41), E O’Connell (A Kendellen 41), F Wycherley, T Ahern, J Hodnett, B Gleeson (R Quinn 61)
Edinburgh: W Goosen, M Currie (M Bennett 65), J Lang, M Tuipulotu (C Scott 76), R McCann, R Thompson, B Vellacott (A Price 67); B Venter (R Hislop 65), E Ashman (P Harrison 41), P Hill (D Rae 65), M Sykes (G Young 65), S Skinner, L Crosbie (H Watson 2), B Muncaster, M Bradbury
Referee: G Gnecchi (FIR)
Scorers –
Munster:Tries: Nanikvell 2, O'Connor, O’Brien; Cons: Burns 3, Butler
Edinburgh:Tries: Thompson, Currie 3, Bradbury; Cons: Thompson 3; Pens: Thompson
Scoring sequence (Munster first): 0-3, 5-3, 7-3, 7-8, 7-10, 7-15, 7-17, 7-22, 7-27, 7-29, h-t, 12-29, 14-29, 14-34, 19-34, 21-34, 26-34, 28-34
Yellow cards –
Edinburgh: Paddy Harrison (75 mins)
The post URC: Munster vs Edinburgh: Matt Currie hat-trick helps visitors land thrilling bonus point victory appeared first on Scottish Rugby News from The Offside Line.
