Munster held onto a narrow lead in difficult conditions to hand the DHL Stormers a third successive defeat in Limerick on Saturday.
The much-hyped repeat of last season’s final didn’t quite live up to the billing as the one first-half try from Munster was enough to see the hosts claim a 10-3 victory.
That try from 20-year-old lock Edwin Edogbo was the only touchdown of the match, which was played in wet and windy conditions at Thomond Park, where handling errors were plentiful.
Munster held a 3-0 lead for most the first half, but the decisive moment of the match came towards the end of the half, as the hosts piled on the pressure from the driving maul.
After conceding three sucessive penalties, the Stormers lost captain Neethling Fouche to the sin bin, and Munster made their numbers advantage count, as Edogbo reached over the tryline in the final play of the half.
Home team advantage 🔥
Who is taking home the win tonight?#BKTURC #URC #DRAvOSP #MUNvSTO pic.twitter.com/ZfvIs62f9x
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) November 18, 2023
The Stormers came out firing in the second half, winning penalty after penalty at the scrum, but Evan Roos was twice held up over the tryline, before Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted what would be their only points of the game.
Having survived the onslaught, Munster kept the Stormers pinned back in their territory with some excellent tactical kicking and saw out the game to claim a win, bouncing back from their derby defeat to Ulster.
The win also ensured a winless weekend for South African teams in the Vodacom URC, as earlier on Saturday, the Sharks lost a fifth successive game after being beaten at Kings Park by Irish side Connacht.
The Stormers have now lost three in a row for the first time in the competition and will look to avoid stretching that to four when they travel to Cardiff for their final tour game next weekend.
Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images
