O'Gara reduces Stradey to silence

Llanelli 13 Munster

Ronan O'Gara showed off his full array of kicking skills to put the boot into Llanelli as Munster came up with an epic away win in the first round of the Celtic League.

Unerring with his penalty kicks, hitting the mark with five out of five, the Irish outside-half then conjured up a game-breaking cross kick in the dying moments to allow left-wing Mossy Lawlor to cross for a try in the left corner that finally broke Llanelli's hearts.

After another poor showing by the Welsh clubs on the opening weekend of the Celtic League – Ebbw Vale and Cardiff lost at home, while Swansea and Pontypridd were beaten away – it was left to the team who finished on top of the domestic pile in Wales last season, Llanelli, to try to restore some pride. Not normally a difficult task for the Scarlets at their beloved Stradey Park home, but this was no ordinary challenge. The last time Munster had been in Wales was for the Heineken Cup final and they quickly showed why they have been a permanent fixture among Europe's top sides over the past three years.

It was very much a case of the old routine for the mighty men of Munster, even though new skipper Jim Williams was ruled out at the 11th hour and there no was no Peter Clohessy. Gone, but not forgotten, the spirit of "The Claw" lives on in the Munster pack.

As befitting a game billed as the match of the day on the opening weekend of the season in Europe, the forward exchanges were ferocious, the skill levels high for this time of season and the tackling tenacious.

Little separated the teams, and while the Munster attack created a few openings around the Llanelli midfield, the home side's ball carriers found it almost impossible to bypass the red shirts.

Predictably then, in such a close contest, it came down to the goal-kicking skills of the two international marksmen. Ireland's Ronan O'Gara hit the mark with three kicks in the first half, while Wales' Stephen Jones had two out of two, one from 52 metres.

O'Gara kicked another penalty at the start of the second half to increase his side's lead before Llanelli squandered a golden opportunity to grab the game's first try. Right wing Mark Jones was the guilty man, dropping an inch-perfect box kick from Guy Easterby 20 metres out with no one ahead of him. And just as O'Gara had punished the Scarlets for failing to take an earlier try chance that fell to Wayne Proctor, so he did with Jones's opportunity by landing his fifth goal, this time from 35 metres.

Llanelli threw on their Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel as they looked for inspiration and he soon injected some life. Scott Quinnell reached charging mode and at last the home side began to make some headway.

Their cause was helped when Mike Mullins was sent to the sin bin after 66 minutes for an outrageous high tackle on Mark Jones, although Stephen Jones was unable to further punish that indiscretion because he missed a simple 25- metre penalty from in front of the posts.

It looked as though it was not going to be Llanelli's night, but the Jones boys combined 10 minutes from time to breathe new life into the Llanelli challenge.

Stephen kicked to the corner for a five-metre lineout against seven men, the Llanelli pack came up with the ball and a blind-side break ended with Mark crossing for a try which Stephen converted off the touch line.

That at least put the Scarlets in range of a bonus point even if they lost, but it was victory they were after.

A last Llanelli attack faltered, however, and when O'Gara kicked with pinpoint accuracy for Lawlor to cross it was the end of the story for the Scarlets.

Llanelli: G Evans; M Jones, M Watkins, M Cardey, W Proctor; S Jones, G Easterby (D Peel, 60); I Thomas, R McBryde, M Madden (J Davies, 67), V Cooper (capt), P Clapham, S Easterby, S Quinnell, I Boobyer. Replacements: J Davies, M Thomas, B Griffiths, D Jones, G Bowen, B Davies.

Munster: D Crotty (J Staunton); J Kelly, M Mullins, R Henderson, M Lawlor; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, J Blaney, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, E Halvey (C McMahon, 72), A Foley (capt), A Quinlan. Replacements: J Fogarty, S Kerr, M Galwey, C McMahon, D Malone, J Holland, J Staunton.

Referee: R Dixon (Scotland).