Heineken Cup champions Munster comfortably defeated a determined USA Eagles side 46-22 in a pre-season friendly played in East Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday.
The USA scored first through a nice try from Justin Boyd in the corner, but Munster came back hard, scoring 17 points before the USA got a late try from Louis Stanfill, keeping them in the game with the halftime score at 20-15.
The friendly was competitive througout, with Munster missing a few big name players such as Ronan O’Gara, Doug Howlett, Peter Stringer, and Paul O’Connel. The rest of the squad were strong enough though, and in the second half they extended their lead with a few nice tries, including two pushover tries, dispelling the myth that the art of the rolling maul is dead under the ELV’s.
A yellow card for the US didn’t help their cause, and Munster cruised to victory with tries by Ireland internationals Frank Sheahan and Barry Murphy, both replacements, scoring a try a piece. Eagles flyhalf Nese Malifa finished with 12 points and had a good game all round, before being taken off with a shoulder injury.
Munster take on London Irish this friday night ahead of their Magners League meeting at Murrayfield against Edinburgh in two weeks time.
Time:
05:45
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