Geraghty shines as Saints down Munster

Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder praised his star Shane Geraghty, “We have seen Shane play at under-20 level for England and throughout the age groups and he is a special talent.

“What he has done today is to back up a number of very good performances for us this season and that is probably his best performance for us tonight.” he told the BBC.

“He made a lot of good options in attack, and he can see where space is. Whether it his passing or his running game, he’s a real threat to defenders.”

Munster captain Paul O’Connell said that he was not pleased with the way Munster played, :”It wasn’t a fabulous performance but it was an improvement on Leinster last week. But we let in too many soft scores.

“There were a few defensive lapses. Against a team of the quality of Northampton you can’t give them those opportunities.

“They are good at taking their opportunities.”

“Shane Geraghty is playing well at the moment and they are very good at what they do.

“They have a strong ball-carrying game and when we presented them with opportunities they took them and took them very well.”

Final Score Northampton Saints 31 Munster 27

Scorers

Northampton Saints
Tries – Ashton 2, Geraghty
Pen – Geraghty 4
Con – Geraghty 2
Drop –

Munster
Tries -Wallace, O’Leary
Pen – O’Gara 4
Con – Warwick
Drop -O’Gara

Referee: Christophe Berdos

Teams

Northampton Saints: B Foden, C Ashton, J Clarke, J Downey, B Reihana, S Geraghty, L Dickson, S Tongauiha, D Hartley [capt], S Bonorino, C Lawes, J Kruger, P Dowson, N Best, R Wilson

Replacements: B Sharman, R Dreyer, B Mujati, I Fernandez Lobbe, M Easter, A Dickens, S Myler, C Mayor

Munster: P Warwick, D Howlett, L Mafi, J de Villiers, K Earls, R O’Gara, T O’Leary, M Horan, J Flannery, T Buckley, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell [capt], A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy

Replacements: D Fogarty, J Brugnaut, D Hurley, M O’Driscoll, N Ronan, D Ryan, P Stringer, I Dowling