Munster edge out Connacht in thrilling Thomond try-fest

Last season's table toppers Munster had to come from behind four times before seeing off Connacht at Thomond Park in the United Rugby Championship.

Debutant half-backs Josh Ioane and Ben Murphy inspired a rejuvenated Connacht to lead 19-14 at half-time despite Santiago Cordero’s sin-binning.

Former Leinster scrum-half Murphy squeezed in his second try, replying to Munster scores from Alex Nankivell and Mike Haley, as the provincial rivals eventually shared 10 tries.

Connacht replacement David Hawkshaw and Cathal Forde cancelled out efforts from John Hodnett and Gavin Coombes but Tony Butler, Munster’s reserve fly-half, coolly converted Shane Daly’s 69th-minute try to decide the outcome.

Josh Ioane, who has one New Zealand cap to his name, opens the scoring for Connacht against Munster on his debut for the province. #MUNvCON pic.twitter.com/kCBtDMjCxe

Murphy cut inside Craig Casey off a 13th-minute scrum, connecting with Shayne Bolton out wide, and had Ioane up in support to score Connacht’s opener.

Seven minutes later, Murphy brilliantly collected Ioane’s instinctive offload to go in behind the posts and the New Zealander converted.

After Casey was caught high by Cordero for his yellow card, Nankivell broke out of Conor Oliver’s attempted tackle to cut the gap to five points.

Munster newcomer Billy Burns also converted Haley’s 31st-minute effort, with the tricky full-back stretching out of a Bolton tackle to touch down.

Ben Murphy completes a brace of tries in the first half and Connacht lead Munster 19-14 at the break. #MUNvCON pic.twitter.com/HmAPrC3dO0

Nonetheless, Ioane’s superb straight line and return pass allowed Murphy to complete his brace just before the break, with Forde adding the extras.

There were four more tries