Munster 23 - 20 Cardiff

Full time

04 Oct 2025

Stage: Regular Season Round 2

Thomond Park

👏 1

😭 1

Munster Rugby narrowly defeated Cardiff Rugby 23-20 in a thrilling encounter at Thomond Park. Cardiff's Adams opened the scoring with an early try, but Munster responded with a try from Quinn shortly after. Both teams faced disciplinary issues, with McNally and Coombes receiving yellow cards that impacted their respective team's defensive shapes. In the second half, Coombes scored a crucial try, followed by a successful conversion from Crowley, giving Munster a slight lead. Tom Bowen struck back for Cardiff with his second try late in the match, but Munster's solid defense held firm. A drop goal from Crowley added vital points for Munster, securing their victory. This match continued the closely contested rivalry, avenging their previous loss to Cardiff earlier in the season.

Weather

Temperature: 12.7°C (Feels like 5.5°C) Condition: Windy Wind: 30.1 km/h, gusting to 53.1 km/h Humidity: 76% Cloud Cover: 38%

Highlights

Events

Kickoff
9'

Yellow Card

Josh McNally · Cardiff
9'

Substitution

Sean O'Brien on for Shane Daly · Munster
14'

Try

Josh Adams · Cardiff

0 - 5
19'

Yellow Card Complete

Josh McNally · Cardiff
24'

Substitution

Diarmuid Barron on for Niall Scannell · Munster
28'

Try

Ruadhan Quinn · Munster

5 - 5
38'

Yellow Card

Gavin Coombes · Munster
Halftime 5 - 5
Second Half
43'

Try

Tom Bowen · Cardiff

5 - 10
45'

Substitution

Dafydd Hughes on for Liam Belcher · Cardiff
48'

Yellow Card Complete

Gavin Coombes · Munster
52'

Try

Gavin Coombes · Munster

10 - 10
53'

Conversion

Jack Crowley · Munster

12 - 10
54'

Substitution

Paddy Patterson on for Ethan Coughlan · Munster
55'

Substitution

Jack O'Donoghue on for Ruadhan Quinn · Munster
55'

Substitution

Rhys Barratt on for Danny Southworth · Cardiff
57'

Try

Tom Bowen · Cardiff

12 - 15
58'

Substitution

Ioan Lloyd on for Callum Sheedy · Cardiff
58'

Substitution

Ben Donnell on for Alex Mann · Cardiff
58'

Substitution

Taine Basham on for Dan Thomas · Cardiff
59'

Substitution

Josh Wycherley on for Jeremy Loughman · Munster
59'

Substitution

Brian Gleeson on for Fineen Wycherley · Munster
61'

Try

Diarmuid Barron · Munster

17 - 15
67'

Penalty

Jack Crowley · Munster

20 - 15
67'

Substitution

Aled Davies on for Johan Mulder · Cardiff
67'

Substitution

Sam Wainwright on for Javan Sebastian · Cardiff
71'

Substitution

Ronan Foxe on for Oli Jager · Munster
76'

Drop Goal

Jack Crowley · Munster

23 - 15
77'

Substitution

Tony Butler on for Jack Crowley · Munster
80'

Try

Tom Bowen · Cardiff

23 - 20
Fulltime 23 - 20

Player ratings

Munster

15 Ben O'Connor 7.1
14 Shane Daly –
13 Dan Kelly 6.3
12 Alex Nankivell 7.1
11 Thaakir Abrahams 7.6
10 Jack Crowley 6.9
9 Ethan Coughlan 6.3
1 Jeremy Loughman 5.8
2 Niall Scannell 7.3
3 Oli Jager 7.4
4 Jean Kleyn 7.4
5 Fineen Wycherley 6.9
6 Tom Ahern 6.3
7 Ruadhan Quinn 7.3
8 Gavin Coombes 6.6
16 Diarmuid Barron 7.9
17 Josh Wycherley 6.7
18 Ronan Foxe –
19 Jack O'Donoghue 6.5
20 Brian Gleeson 6.4
21 Paddy Patterson 6.4
22 Tony Butler –
23 Sean O'Brien 6.3

Cardiff

15 Jacob Beetham 5.9
14 Josh Adams 6.3
13 Harri Millard 6.0
12 Rory Jennings 5.6
11 Tom Bowen 8.2
10 Callum Sheedy 7.0
9 Johan Mulder 6.1
1 Danny Southworth 7.5
2 Liam Belcher 7.6
3 Javan Sebastian 6.5
4 Josh McNally 4.9
5 Teddy Williams 6.1
6 Alex Mann 6.2
7 Dan Thomas 6.9
8 Alun Lawrence 7.1
16 Dafydd Hughes 6.2
17 Rhys Barratt 5.6
18 Sam Wainwright 5.5
19 Ben Donnell 5.9
20 Taine Basham 5.9
21 Aled Davies 5.7
22 Ioan Lloyd 5.9
23 Steffan Emanuel –