Of course, the men who are charged with getting results on the rugby pitch often don’t have much truck with their role as entertainers and you’d suspect the defence coaches will elicit little joy from the video reviews.
Munster and Connacht both know that the liberal approach both teams took to tackling won’t sustain them during the campaign.
But there was value for money for the paying punters, the vast majority of whom left Thomond Park relieved that their side had somehow pulled it out of the bag.
When Tony Butler nailed a tough conversion from the left hand sideline, it was the seventh and final time the lead had changed hands, the Ennis native delivering on the back of Shane Daly’s try which was the 10th of the evening – five a piece.
Connacht coach Pete Wilkins probably would have taken two points from Thomond Park if you’d offered it to him on the bus down, but the return journey was a different story for the visiting side were the better team for large parts of the game.
Their new half-backs Ben Murphy and Josh Ioane was the stars of the first-half, their forwards laid a serious physical tone but too often the ghosts of last season’s sloppy one-on-one tackling came back to bite them.
There were times when the home fans among the 15,705-strong crowd grew vocally impatient with what they were seeing from their team, particularly when new out-half Billy Burns failed to make touch with a pair of second-half penalties, but by the end they were on their feet celebrating a win that was earned by a big, bench impact.
The first-half in particular was poor from the hosts, who were guilty of compounding errors in a disjointed display that saw their poor pre-season form seep into the real deal.
Things looked bright early on for the visitors and as we entered the second quarter the hosts were two tries down thanks to tries from their half-back debutants.
First, it was Ioane who popped up on Shayne Bolton’s inside after Murphy had turned Craig Casey inside and out off the back of a scrum.
The All Black missed a conversion he’d ultimately regret, but the natives’ restlessness only grew as the home side continued to make basic errors and their frustration only grew when Darragh Murray forced a penalty, Ioane pumped the ball into the ‘22 and their defence was unlocked by slick Connacht handling that ended with Murphy scooting over.
Ioane converted and the score appeared to wake Munster up.
After a couple of close calls, they were handed a leg-up when Santiago Cordero caught Casey with a glancing head on head blow and saw yellow.
Burns found touch and, from the lineout, Nankivell brushed off a poor Conor Oliver tackle to waltz over under the posts.
Burns converted and suddenly it was a very different game as Connacht began to fall off tackles.
Fineen Wycherley was held up over the line after a superb Tom Farrell break up the right, but the pressure told as John Ryan popped the ball off the deck and that caught Connacht flat-footed so Mike Haley was able to slalom through the cover, dummying Hansen, before reaching for the line.
Burns made it 14-12, but leads weren’t meant to last on this occasion and Connacht’s razor-sharp half-backs combined one last time as Ioane attacked the line brilliantly and left Quinn for dead, drew Burns and sent Murphy over for his second.
Cathal Forde kicked his side into a 19-14 half-time lead, but it only lasted five minutes as the visitors’ ill-discipline meant Burns didn’t pay the price for failing to find touch with two penalties, instead nailing the third.
From the lineout, John Hodnett scored from close range and the out-half nudged his side in front with the conversion.
Once again, they couldn’t hold their lead; surviving an onslaught after Hansen had reacted first when Ioane’s penalty came back off the post, Gavin Coombes holding Oisin Dowling up, but once again they were slack from the restart and David Hawkshaw collected Dave Heffernan’s pass to race clear.
Ioane made it 26-21, but again the lead was overturned when Gavin Coombes barrelled past Cordero to score.
Butler nailed a difficult kick, but again it slipped as Nankivell dallied over Piers O’Conor’s chip and chase and, from the scrum, Cathal Forde brushed Butler aside and powered through Thaakir Abrahams to score.
Connacht thought they had it when Ioane made it a five point game once again, but Munster never wilted.
It was Casey who provided the spark with a tap penalty that put Connacht on the back foot, they settled into their patterns until Hodnett made a surge and their handling was crisp as they worked it wide for Haley to pass wide to Daly who crossed.
Again, Butler held his nerve.
Connacht had the ball, but they couldn’t find the space they needed and were subsumed by red jerseys. By the end, Thomond was on its feet, but if it’s to be a successful season both teams will need big improvements.
Scorers
Munster: A Nankivell, M Haley, J Hodnett, G Coombes, S Daly try each, B Burns 3 cons, T Butler 2 cons;
Connacht: B Murphy 2 tries, J Ioane try, 3 cons, C Forde try, con, D Hawkshaw try;
Munster: M Haley; T Abrahams, T Farrell (S O’Brien 75), A Nankivell, S Daly (S O’Brien 37-h-t HIA); B Burns (T Butler 54), C Casey; J Loughman (J Wycherley 51), D Barron (capt) (N Scannell 63), J Ryan (O Jager 51); J Kleyn (J O’Donoghue 56), F Wycherley; R Quinn (A Kendellen 51), J Hodnett, G Coombes.
Connacht: S Cordero; M Hansen; P O’Conor; C Forde, S Bolton (D Hawkshaw 34); J Ioane, B Murphy (C Blade 63); D Buckley (P Dooley 51), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin 67), J Aungier (S Illo 51); J Joyce (O Dowling 51), D Murray (S Jansen 51); J Murphy, C Oliver (S Hurley-Langton 51), C Prendergast (capt).
Ref: C Busby (IRFU)
