Munster secured a hard-fought 37-28 win in Treviso over Benetton to go to the summit of Conference A on Friday night.
What a result!!! Bonus point win in Treviso #BENvMUN pic.twitter.com/T8RE0s9kYF
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) April 12, 2024
The win puts Munster two points ahead of Glasgow Warriors for tonight at least as the Scottish side face Leinster on Saturday.
The home side got off to the better start with Tomasso Allan slotting over an early penalty to settle the nerves. After seven minutes Benetton were 10-0 up as Ratuva Tavuyarto broke the line before Tomasso Benvenuti touched down. Allan kicked the extras.
Munster responded immediately through Rhys Marshall after he received a lovely pass from scrum-half Alby Mathewson. JJ Hanrahan knocked over the conversion to make it 10-7.
After 12 minutes the men in red were ahead as Dan Goggin scored under the posts and Hanrahan again slotted home the extra two to leave it at 14-10 to the away side.
The game slowed down a little after the energetic start, with Allan kicking two penalties and Hanrahan scoring one to make it 17-16 to Munster come the 25th minute.
However, Benetton went into half-time with the lead with Jayden Hayward breaking away and Monty Ioane getting in for the try on 38 minutes. Allan couldn’t push them ahead any further as he missed his conversion to leave the score at 21-17 come the whistle.
HT | The opening 40 has seen tries from Rhys Marshall & Dan Goggin with JJ Hanrahan converting both & adding a penalty. #BENvMUN pic.twitter.com/jHdF6i0fiX
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) April 12, 2024
Benetton started the second-half where they left off. They were awarded a penalty try four minutes into the half after Darren Sweetnam deliberately knocked-on the ball. Sweetnam was sent to the bin for 10 minutes following the incident.
Although they had the man advantage the hosts failed to capitalise, as Munster scored a penalty five minutes later through Hanrahan to make it 28-20.
Benvenuti was then shown yellow for the home side for a high tackle on Stephen Archer in the 52nd minute.
Munster took full advantage with Hanrahan kicking another penalty two minutes later before Shane Daly scored in the corner to pull them level. Hanrahan’s perfect kick meant they went into the lead once more at 30-28 with a quarter of the match remaining.
Hanrahan was at the thick of things again when he broke through the Benetton defence and Alby Mathewson was on hand to finish the move. A seventh kick from seven for man of the match Hanrahan stretched the lead out to 37-28.
After @Munsterrugby‘s win away at @BenettonRugby, fly-half JJ Hanrahan is presented with the Guinness PRO14 man of the match award by Massimo Bauce, on behalf of Guinness ?#BENvMUN #GUINNESSPRO14 pic.twitter.com/iKclxflAAo
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) April 12, 2024
The final 12 minutes where spent in the Munster half as Benetton went in search of a score, but they were unable to break through as it finished 37-28.
The win puts Munster first in Conference A with one game to go in the regular season having played a game more than second-placed Glasgow. It also gives the side another confidence boost before their crunch clash with Saracens in the Champions Cup semi-finals next weekend. On the other hand, the loss means Benetton head into the final round of fixtures a point ahead of Edinburgh in Conference B as they hope to secure the last play-off spot in the conference.
