Coombes double inspires Munster win against Scarlets

United Rugby Championship

Munster (7) 29

Tries: McCarthy, Coombes 2, Kendellen, Farrell Cons: Burns 2

Scarlets (3) 8

Try: Page Pen: Lloyd

Two Gavin Coombes tries helped Munster lift themselves above Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship in a convincing bonus-point victory in Limerick.

Shay McCarthy, Alex Kendellen and Tom Farrell also crossed in the five-try win as Munster capitalised on their possession and territory dominance to rise to fifth in the URC table.

Scarlets responded with an excellent try from replacement Macs Page but Dwayne Peel's side were outclassed by their Irish hosts.

Munster host Edinburgh in two weeks, while Scarlets will travel to face Ulster.

Scarlets were boosted by four Wales squad members with Ellis Mee, Joe Roberts, Kemsley Mathias and Taine Plumtree starting but they were missing Blair Murray, Tom Rogers and Eddie James.

Flanker Dan Davis returned with captain Josh Macleod absent through injury with scrum-half Gareth Davies taking over as skipper.

Munster, who were missing Ireland internationals Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony, Jack Crowley, Conor Murray and Calvin Nash, made one change to the side that defeated Dragons with prop Josh Wycherley returning from a neck injury to start.

Scarlets centre Roberts was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on and the visitors appeared to be punished almost immediately when lock Tom Ahern was driven over before the try was disallowed because of a knock-on.

Lloyd, who had missed an earlier attempt, opened the scoring with a penalty before Munster replacement wing McCarthy powered through a missed tackle from scrum-half Davies.

Plumtree was at the heart of the ill-disciplined Scarlets side with the visitors defending well but showing attacking intent.

Munster will be disappointed they only led 7-3 at half-time despite their dominance in a low quality opening 40 minutes.

Scarlets were the last Welsh side to win in Limerick in 2017

The home side's pressure told when influential number eight Coombes burrowed over early in the second half.

Munster maintained their superiority while increasing their accuracy as flanker Kendellen crashed over.

Wales hooker Ryan Elias came on as a replacement on his return having not played for Scarlets since the end of November.

He was joined by Page who almost made an immediate impression off the bench with a brilliant individual effort as he chased his own kick.

The try was given despite the television match official (TMO) checking if there was a grounding after excellent defensive work from Munster replacement scrum-half Paddy Patterson.

Munster regrouped and Coombes popped over for his second try and the bonus-point score.

Home wing Shane Daly avoided a last-minute red card for a dangerous tackle on Roberts as he was shown a yellow card instead.

Despite being at a numerical disadvantage, Munster crossed for the final try when centre Farrell squeezed into the corner.

Munster: Ben O'Connor; Shane Daly, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Billy Burns, Ethan Coughlan; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager, Tom Ahern, Fineen Wycherley, Jack O'Donoghue (capt), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.

Sin-bin: Daly 79

Replacements: Niall Scannell, Kieran Ryan, John Ryan, Brian Gleeson, John Hodnett, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.

Scarlets: Ioan Nicholas; Ellis Mee, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Steff Evans; Ioan Lloyd, Gareth Davies (capt); Kemsley Mathias, Marnus van der Merwe, Archer Holz, Max Douglas, Sam Lousi, Taine Plumtree, Dan Davis, Vaea Fifita.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Alec Hepburn, Sam Wainwright, Alex Craig, Jarrod Taylor, Archie Hughes, Charlie Titcombe, Macs Page.

Sin-bin: Roberts 11

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)

Assistant referees: Robbie Jenkinson & Paul Haycock (IRFU)

TMO: Stefano Roscini (FIR)