MUNSTER earned a losing bonus point from their 41-24 loss to Sharks in Durban.
The visitors were 41-10 in arrears on 70 minutes but displayed admirable character in the closing stages to grab two important tries through Calvin Nash and captain Tadhg Beirne, both converted by Jack Crowley, to earn a reward for a testing fixture in front a largely home attendance of around 20,000 spectators.
Munster’s opening-half tries came from Tom Ahern and Mike Haley.
It was an outing in which 21-year-old Ronan Foxe made his debut in the last quarter.
Foxe came up through the ranks at Midland Warriors and Tullamore, before then linking up with Old Belvedere. He is currently attached to Garryowen.
The prop featured with Ireland in the 2023 Under-20 World U20 Championship in South Africa.
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell (Burns ’68), Seán O’Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey (Coughlan ’68); John Ryan (Foxe ’72), Niall Scannell (Barron ’50), Stephen Archer (K. Ryan ’68); Jean Kleyn (Wycherley ’49), Tadhg Beirne, captain; Tom Ahern (Quinn ’49), John Hodnett (Kendellen ’50), Jack O’Donoghue
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Kieran Ryan, Ronan Foxe, Fineen Wycherley, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Billy Burns, Alex Kendellen.
