MUNSTER rugby suffered a 38-29 defeat to FC Grenoble at Thomond Park this evening in what was their first outing of the 2015/16 season. In what was an open and enjoyable game of rugby, FC Grenoble out scored Munster six tries to five.
Munster’s five pointers came from Cathal Sheridan, Matt D’Arcy, Shane Buckley (2) and Darren Sweetnam, while Grenoble’s tries were scored by Denis Coulson (2) Laurent Bouchet, James Percival, Arnaud Heguy and Gio Aplon.
Munster will be happy with this performance, with their lineout maul functioning exceptionally well. Best for Munster were Shane Buckley, Matt D’Arcy and Tyler Bleyendaal. The only concerns for Anthony Foley from the game will be that both Bleyendaal and Robin Copeland left the field with slight knocks. Both are sure to be assessed in the coming days, but at first look neither seemed to be too serious.
Munster’s next pre-season game is against Connacht next Friday night, August 21, in Thomond Park. FC Grenoble begin their Top14 season next weekend against Agen.
Teams:
Munster:
D Johnston, D Sweetnam, C Bohane, G van den Heever, T Bleyendaal, C Sheridan, J Ryan, N Scannell, BJ Botha, J Madigan, D Foley, S Buckley, J Coghlan, R Copeland. Subs: K O’Byrne, P Mc Cabe, R Burke, D O’Callaghan, S Mc Carthy, R Foley, B Johnston, D Mc Carthy, C Oliver, S Mc Mahon.
FC Grenoble:
F Gengenbacher, X Mignot, F Estebanez, N Hunt, D Kilioni, J Wisniewski, C McLeod, F Barcella, L Bouchet, W Desmaison, B Hand, J Percival, J Best, M Diaby, R Grice. Subs: A Heguy, D Coulson, M Marie, P Kimlin, C Loustalot, C Gelin, C Farrell, F Alexandre, J Willison, A Batle, G Aplon.
Scoring Timeline:
7 mins TRY Grenoble – Bouchet 5-0
8mins CONVERSION – Wisniewski 7-0
16mins TRY Munster – Cathal Sheridan 7-5 (conversion missed)
22mins TRY Munster Shane Buckley 10-7 Munster.
23mins CONVERSION – Tyler Bleyendaal 12-7
28mins TRY Munster – Matt D’Arcy 17-7
29mins CONVERSION Tyler Bleyendaal 19-7
33mins TRY Grenoble Percival 19-12
33mins CONVERSION – Wisniewski 19-14
HALF TIME
44mins TRY Grenoble Aplon 19-19 (Conversion missed)
47mins TRY Munster Darren Sweetnam 24-19 (Conversion missed)
54mins TRY Grenoble Denis Coulson 24-24
54mins CONVERSION by Wisniewski 24-26
55mins TRY Grenoble Denis Coulson 24-31 (conversion missed)
66mins TRY Shane Buckley 29-31 (conversion missed)
78mins TRY Grenoble Arnaud Heguy 36-29
79mins Conversion Christophe Loustalot 38-29
