WATCH: Munster grind out vital Cardiff win as Joey Carbery makes return

MUNSTER boosted their hopes of securing a Guinness PRO14 final place after recording a hard fought 20-11 victory over Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff Arms Park on Friday night

The game saw Joey Carbery's long-awaited return from an ankle injury as the Ireland out-half was introduced as a 65th minute replacement.

Carbery was making his first appearance for the province since the start of January last year and marked it by landing a late conversion as Munster made it four wins on the bounce against the Blues.

Munster are now nine points clear of second-placed Connacht in Conference B of the PRO14. The Irish provinces meet at Thomond Park on Friday next, 7.35pm.

Victory for Munster then would guarantee a first Guinness PRO14 final appearance for Munster since 2017.

Cardiff hit the front in the 12th minute with a try from second-row Seb Davies. Soon after lock Davies picked up a yellow card, but Munster's only reward during the time he was off the pitch was a JJ Hanrahan penalty on 28 minutes.

Back came Cardiff and a Ben Thomas penalty had the Welsh region 8-3 to the good after 37 minutes. 

The see-saw nature of the scoring continued just before the break as Hanrahan's second successful penalty cut the home side;s advantage to two points, 8-6, at half-time. 

WATCH:

He's back!

Fantastic to see Joey Carbery back in action after injury.
Go well Joey!

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— eir Sport (@eirSport) February 26, 2021

The Blues lead was out to five points, 11-6, when Thomas kicked an excellent 52nd minute penalty from the visitors' 10 metre line.

To their credit, Munster hit back immediately scoring from the restart as second-row Jean Kleyn dotted down after the visitors made ground thanks to Hanrahan's well-judged chip kick. The out-half also converted for a 13-11 Munster lead.

Munster then sealed the win late on when scoring a crucial second try off a well-executed driving maul with Carbery nailing the conversion.

WATCH:

Cardiff 11-13 Munster

Jean Kleyn following some great Munster pressure to get over the line to open their try scoring account of the evening.

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— eir Sport (@eirSport) February 26, 2021

SCORERS: Cardiff Blues: Seb Davies try, Ben Thomas two pens. Munster: Jean Kleyn, Niall Scannell try each, JJ Hanrahan ywo pens, con, Joey Carbery con.

CARDIFF BLUES: Matthew Morgan, Owen lane, Mason Grady, Rey Lee-Lo, Aled Summerhill, Ben Thomas, Jamie Hill; Corey Domachowski, Kirby Myhill, Dimitri Arhip, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Elliis Jenkins, Josh Turnbull (Capt). Replacements: Liam Belcher, Theo Bevacqua, Kieron Assiratti, James Ratti, Olly Robinson, Lewis Jones, Max Llewellyn, Dan Fish.

WATCH:

Cardiff 11-18 Munster

'Welcome back Joey!'

The Munster back line powers over the line to give Munster the game.

But what a great way for Joey Carbery to kick his first points on his return with the conversion.

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— eir Sport (@eirSport) February 26, 2021

MUNSTER: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Rory Scannell, Damian de Allende, Shane Daly; JJ Hanrahan, Nick McCarthy; James Cronin, Kevin O’Byrne, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O’Donoghue (Capt), Chris Cloete, Jack O’Sullivan. Replacements: Niall Scannell, Liam O’Connor, Roman Salanoa, Billy Holland, Gavin Coombes, Paddy Patterson, Joey Carbery, Darren Sweetnam.

REFERE: Adam Jones (Wales)