On Saturday evening at the Aviva Stadium Joey Carbery was back in the blue of Leinster after an eight-year absence and Jamison Gibson-Park was named Man of the Match in his first game of the season as Leinster beat old rivals Munster 24-18. Carbery made a controversial move from Leinster to Munster in 2018, but he was unfortunate with injuries during his time in
Limerick. The out-half, who was born in New Zealand and grew up in Athy, joined French club Bordeaux Begles in 2024 and this season the 35 year-old is back with Leinster.
A try from Shane Daly plus a conversion and a penalty from out-half Charlie O’Shea gave Munster a 13-0 lead. An unconverted try from Tommy O’Brien saw Munster lead 13-5 at half time. But second half tries from Ryan Baird, Charlie Tector and Jamie Osborne saw the home team, take control. Then on the stroke of full time Ben O’Connor touched down in the corner to
give Munster a losing bonus point. Also in the URC Connacht scored eight tries in their 48-27 win over basement club Zebre at the Dexcom Stadium in Galway. In the second tier Challenge Cup Ulster were beaten 34-26 by the Bulls in Pretoria.
Meanwhile the Irish women’s rugby team scored six tries in their 40-27 win over South Africa in the Global WXV Series at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday. In what was the first meeting between the countries in 20 years, and only the second in history, the tourists dominated the second half after getting to the interval with a 21-17 advantage. Ireland’s try scorers were: Linda Djougang (2), Aoife Dalton, Beibhinn Parsons, Jane Clohessy and
captain Erin King. The countries will meet again at the same venue next Saturday.
