Southern Kings 20 Munster 31
Munster picked up a second bonus point win of the season, but their coach Johann van Graan said he knew they would have to dig deep to see off Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.
Tries from Mike Haley, Alby Mathewson, Fineen Wycherley and Arno Botha helped them to the win, but van Graan admitted he knew Kings would put it up to his side after he sensed a change in attitude towards the Pro14 in his native country.
“It was evident to me, when I was back in South Africa in the summer, that both teams have started to embrace the Pro14.
“We were under no illusions coming here about the task we would face so to get the win and the bonus point is very pleasing, especially with such a young squad.
“Now we must switch our focus to altitude at Bloemfontein and our game against the Cheetahs but this win is a good boost,” said van Graan.
Munster did create plenty of try scoring chances in this game, but they only took one of the four that came their way in the first-half. Shane Daly, Haley and Botha all had tries ruled out before Haley scored their first in the 20th minute as Munster led 10-6 at half-time.
A try from Stefan Ungerer put Kings in front early in the second-half, but Daly’s brilliant break resulted in Mathewson’s try after 51 minutes, and after Munster lost Chris Cloete to injury Wycherley had a try awarded 12 minutes from time.
And ten minutes from the end Botha broke through to score on home soil, which meant all five points went Munster’s way, despite Eric Louw’s late consolation for Kings.
Scorers - Southern Kings: S Ungerer, E Louw tries; D Catrakilis 2 cons, 2 pens. Munster: M Haley, A Mathewson, F Wycherley, A Botha tries; JJ Hanrahan 4 cons, pen.
Southern Kings: M Banda; A Loubser, T Kruger, JT Jackson, C Winnaar; D Catrakilis, S Ungerer; J Schoeman, A van Rooyen, P Scholtz; J Sexton, A Fortuin; L Badiyana, T Burger, R Lerm.
Replacements: B de Wee for Sexton (32-40 mins, HIA), J du Toit for van Rooyen (h-t), B de Wee for Badiyana (53), J Twum-Boafo for Loubser (62), A Tshakweni for Schoeman (62), E Louw for de Wee (63), R de Klerk for Scholtz (66), J Allderman for Ungerer (74).
Munster: M Haley; D Sweetnam, D Goggin, R Scannell, S Daly; JJ Hanrahan, A Mathewson; L O'Connor, K O'Byrne, S Archer; D O'Shea, F Wycherley; J O'Donoghue, T O'Donnell, A Botha.
Replacements: B Holland for O'Shea (54 mins), N Cronin for Mathewson (59), C Cloete for O'Donnell (59), J Loughman for Archer (61), J Cronin for O'Connor (61), T Bleyendaal for Goggin (68), J Holloway for Cloete (67), L O'Connor for Wycherley (79).
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales).
