Benetton 13

Munster 13

MUNSTER SNATCHED A draw right at the death away to Benetton in the United Rugby Championship [URC] this afternoon.

Tom Ahern scored an 80th-minute try and Joey Carbery added the extras to make it 13-13 at the finish in Treviso.

Carbery kicked eight points for Graham Rowntree’s side, who were extremely off-colour after opening their title defence with a bonus point win over the Sharks.

Full-time: Benetton Treviso 13-13 Munster
Thomas Ahern's late, late try and Joey Carbery's conversion sees Munster scrape a draw against Benetton Treviso in the URC. pic.twitter.com/OyqaWhgXY5

— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 29, 2023

Benetton — with Malakai Fekitoa in their XV — powered into a 6-3 lead after two Jacob Umaga penalties, before they were boosted by a Rhyno Smith try which ultimately made it 13-3 at half time.

That scoreline stood until the 73rd minute, when Carbery kicked Munster to within seven. Rowntree’s men had a try disallowed by the TMO down the home straight for a knock-on, but replacement Ahern eventually helped his side to a draw on the road. 

“Well it took us to the last five minutes to get a draw, and we did well to get a draw,” Rowntree told RTÉ afterwards.

“I thought that was a very good performance by Treviso. For 63 minutes, we just couldn’t break them down, but we showed a lot of composure there as a team to stay in the game. That, I’m pleased about, but we’ll have a good look at our game. We’ve got to be more clinical and more accurate.

“We were under immense pressure from a very good team and they made us make mistakes. We’ve got to look at how we can not make those mistakes.”

Jack O’Dononghue echoed his head coach’s sentiments.

“We made a lot of mistakes out there. A lot of handling errors. A few passes didn’t go to hand and we found ourselves scrambling a bit, but incredibly proud of the lads to come away with a draw. To dig deep to get a try at the end is massive for us going into next week.

“Discipline was a major factor for us in the first half. In fairness to Benetton, they capitalised on our mistakes. It’s a game of fine margins like that. Look, we’ll have a good, honest review, we’ll look at it and look forward to next week.”

A strong push from the lads in the final 10 minutes sees us come away with the draw.

Tom Ahern with the crucial try at the end with Joey Carbery kicking eight points.

Well done @BenettonRugby on a tough game. #BENvMUN #SUAF 🔴 pic.twitter.com/VQvsQz8uxw

— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) October 29, 2023

Benetton scorers

• Try: Rhyno Smith
• Penalties: Jacob Umaga (2)
• Conversions: Jacob Umaga

Munster scorers

• Try: Tom Ahern
• Penalties: Joey Carbery (2)
• Conversions: Joey Carbery

BENETTON: R Smith; I Mendy, M Fekitoa, F Drago, E Padovani; J Umaga (T Albornoz 60), A Uren; M Spagnolo (F Zani 50), G Lucchesi (G Nicotera 50), G Zilocchi (T Pasquali 50); E Iachizzi, E Snyman; A Izekor (G Koegelenberg 65), M Zuliani (M Zanon 72), T Halafihi (H Time-Stowers 46).

MUNSTER: S Daly; S McCarthy (S O’Brien 54), A Frisch, R Scannell (A Nankivell 49), C Nash; J Carbery, E Coughlan (P Patterson 51); K Ryan (M Donnelly 65), D Barron (S Buckley 65), S Archer (J Ryan 49); E Edogbo, F Wycherley (T Ahern 57); J O’Donoghue, J Hodnett (A Kendellan 49), G Coombes.

Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa).

Written by The 42 Team and posted on the42.ie