Connacht's final game of the PRO14 season looks set to end on a sour note after the Westerners picked up two red cards in the first half of their match against Munster at the Aviva Stadium.
Having made 14 changes to his side following last week's win over Ulster, Connacht head coach Andy Friend was keen to give game-time to more players after a long absence due to the coronavirus outbreak.
However, their task was made even more difficult after debutant Abraham Papali'i saw red for a high, shoulder-on-head tackle on Conor Murray.
Ten minutes later, Connacht forward Shane Delahunt also saw red for leading with the elbow to CJ Stander's neck.
Prior to the red cards, Conor Oliver was also sent to the bin after conceding his side's fourth penalty within a couple of minutes.
In terms of the scoring, Chris Cloete touched down for the first score of the afternoon following a Munster line-out, with JJ Hanrahan adding the extras.
After being awarded a penalty try, Munster crossed the whitewash for the third time when Jeremy Loughman went over for their third try.
A try from Bundee Aki was Connacht's only points in the first half.
However, Peter O'Mahony and Tadhg Beirne have also been issued yellow cards and sent to the sin bin in what has been a very ill-disciplined first half with 26 penalties given in total.
At half time, it's Munster 21- 7 Connacht.
You can see Papali'i's red card below.
RED CARD!
25 mins:
Munster 14-0 Connacht.
Connacht debutant Abraham Papali'i sees red for a high, shoulder-on-head tackle on Munster's Conor Murray.#MUNvCON #GuinnessPRO14 pic.twitter.com/TDgM59PXCI— eir Sport (@eirSport) August 30, 2020
Team of Us. Everyone In.
Vodafone. The main sponsor of the Irish Rugby Team
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
