Munster 49-42 Scarlets: Dwayne Peel's side fall agonisingly short in dramatic comeback

The Scarlets' unbeaten start to 2023 came to an end as they fell agonisingly short of a last-gasp draw against Munster following a stunning second-half comeback in Cork.

Dwayne Peel's side conceded five first-half tries to trail 35-7 at the break, but managed to find their attacking game after the interval to at least come away from Ireland with two bonus points.

Having won all six matches to date since the start of the year, the trip to Munster was always going to present a different challenge. In the last round of URC action, the Irish province had hammered the Ospreys 58-3 and it appeared early on that a similar thrashing was on the cards.

After just three minutes, Antoine Frisch got his hands free in the tackle to release full-back Patrick Campbell for the opening score. 10 minutes later, the lead was doubled as winger Calvin Nash crossed from a switch around the fringes.

After the Scarlets lost Wales international Johnny McNicholl to injury, things got worse as Shane Daly crossed out wide on 25 minutes. Munster then had the bonus point before the half-hour mark as Paddy Paterson appeared to knock-on, resulting in the Scarlets defence switching off - only for the referee to not give any decision, leaving the scrum-half to race away.

The west Walians finally troubled the scorers on 35 minutes after some patient attacking play saw Joe Roberts cross out wide, but Munster would have the final say as Daly was put through a gap for his second.

However, the second-half would be a totally different story as the Scarlets began to threaten more with their possession as they found gaps and won collisions. The comeback started with second-row Vaea Fifita racing away to score after being put in space from an inside ball.

However,