After weathering the storm, Munster made a rare foray into the Benetton 22 and after winning a penalty for another breakdown infringement, Healy took the three points on offer to extend the lead to four points.
Back came Benetton as second-rower Federico Ruzza broke from a ruck and flipped a pass to Callum Braley bearing down on the Munster line but the move was snuffed out as the Irish province got numbers back.
Benetton had a wonderful opportunity to take the lead for the first time 10 minutes from the end when a flipped pass found Tommaso Benvenuti in space on the left but a brilliant covering tackle from Haley prevented him from grounding the ball.
Waterford, Ireland / WLR
Jan 9, 2021 10:32 PM
Thirteen-man Munster survived a frantic finish in the Guinness PRO14 top-of-the-table clash to emerge as breathless 16-10 winners over Connacht at the Sportsground.
A last-gasp match-winning try eluded the home side, who came right back into contention late on through Peter Sullivan’s 78th-minute try and sin-bins for Munster replacement backs Rory Scannell and Nick McCarthy.
Munster had scored 10 points during Shane Delahunt’s sin-bin period, including an 18th-minute try from Chris Farrell, to lead by seven at half-time. Jack Carty replied with a late penalty for Connacht.
Munster’s control of the breakdown was decisive – where player-of-the-match Tadhg Beirne starred – and two second-half penalties from JJ Hanrahan, who finished with 11 points, had them marked out as comfortable winners until the late scare.