Munster Rugby open URC campaign with exciting bonus point win away to Scarlets

MUNSTER Rugby opened their United Rugby Championsjip with an exciting 34-21 bonus point win over the Scarlets at a wet Parc y Scarlets on Saturday evening.

It was the ideal way for Clayon McMillan's tenure as new Munster Rugby head coach to begin.

The visitors, who led 13-0 at half-time, had tries from Craig Casey, in the opening half, followed by five-pointers from Mike Haley, Dan Kelly and finally Tom Ahern to secure a bonus point win.

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The returned JJ Hanrahan added two penalties and a conversion, while substitute Jack Crowley also converted the three second half tries. 

Munster have now won their last eight fixtures against the Scarlets in the URC, including their last four in Wales. Munster host Cardiff in their next URC fixture at Thomond Park on Saturday evening next, 7.45pm.

Munster centre Alex Nankivell was awarded the BKT Player of the Match accolade after producing an impressive display.
The game also saw hooker Niall Scannell earn his 200th cap for the province.

Prop Conor Bartley made his first appearance for Munster off the bench in the game. Thirty-year-old Bartley, who can play on both sides of the scrum, initially joined the province on a short-term deal in November 2024. He played his schools rugby with Castletroy College before a one-season spell with Garryowen.

Over the past 10 years, Bartley has been a cornerstone of Young Munster’s front-row

Following Saturday evening's win in Wales new Munster head coach Clayton McMillan said: “Happy to get the result, I think there was enough there for us to be optimistic about.

“The work that we've put in during pre-season has been worthwhile and also there were some parts of our game that were really good today.

“That will put us in good stead as we move forward.”

The 9,000 Llanelli crowd were silenced in a one-sided first half as Munster took control of the contest thanks to a try from their captain Craig Casey and eight points from the boot of out-half JJ Hanrahan.

Mike Haley and Blair Murray exchanged tries after the break, before centre Dan Kelly crossed on his Munster debut. Ellis Mee's effort sparked hopes of a comeback but Munster wrapped up the bonus-point through Tom Ahern.

Taine Plumtree's late interception set up a frantic finale, but inaccuracies saw Scarlets leave the game empty handed.

Scrum-half Craig Casey captained Munster for the first time in Saturday afternoon's fixture. Afterwards Casey said: “Awesome. It is a really proud day for myself and my family captaining the side for the first time.

“Our forwards put in a hell of a shift out there. We asked a lot of them during the week to deliver because we knew it would be tough up front and then when the conditions came in it probably got a little bit tougher and they really fronted up, so delighted with them and delighted with the performance.“

Casey said he always expected Scarlets to remain fiercely competitive over the course of the game despite the visitors managing to keep the Welsh side scoreless in the opening half.

“They are at home and they are a quality team. They have a lot to fight for this year, so we knew it was going to be tough and we also had to hang in there at times, socredit to the Scarlets, but I think we were very happy with the pre-season and we wanted not just to talk about it, but put it into action, delighted with that. There is a lot to work on still.”

SCARLETS: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Joe Hawkins, Ellis Mee; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Harry Thomas, Henry Thomas; Jake Ball, Sam Lousi; Tristan Davies, Josh Macleod (capt), Taine Plumtree. Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Alec Hepburn, Harri O'Connor, Max Douglas, Jarrod Taylor, Dane Blacker, Johnny Williams, Macs Page.

MUNSTER RUGBY: Mike Haley: Shane Daly, Dan Kelly (Sean O’Brien 69′), Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan (Jack Crowley 40′), Craig Casey (C) (Paddy Patterson 71′); Jeremy Loughman (Josh Wycherley 49′), Niall Scannell (Lee Barron 37′), Oli Jager (Conor Bartley 62′); Jean Kleyn (Thomas Ahern 49′), Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue, Alex Kendellen, Brian Gleeson (Gavin Coombes 57′).

REFEREE: Sam Grove-White (SRU)