Treviso 7 Munster 44:After shocking Perpignan and running Northampton mighty close, Treviso were put firmly back in their place by Munster. Tony McGahan's side had completed their Italian job with just 33 minutes on the clock and head into next weekend's clash with Northampton full of confidence.
Having sat idle since Christmas due to the big freeze, there had been fears that Munster would come into the contest somewhat undercooked. As it transpired, that enforced break appears to have rejuvenated a Munster side who ran in four tries within the opening half hour.
Munster ran in six tries in all, with Keith Earls touching down in either half while Denis Hurley, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul Warwick and Donnacha Ryan also crossed the whitewash. Ronan O’Gara added 12 points from the boot.
Alessandro Zanni grabbed an interception score but the Italian champions never looked likely to cause another upset.
The result leaves Munster seven points clear at the top of Pool One and it leaves Northampton, who play tomorrow, with it all to do.
Munster took control of the tie after scoring three tries in the space of eight minutes. A break by Earls was followed by Paul O’Connell’s pass to Hurley who ran in for his first Heineken Cup try, in the fourth minute.
Earls was then rewarded for his earlier break when he was on the end of Doug Howlett’s attack from deep to double the lead on six minutes.
The third try followed swiftly as the ball moved through several pairs of hands before O’Callaghan passed to Niall Ronan before staggering to his feet to receive the return pass to score on 11 minutes.
O’Gara had missed his first two conversion attempts but this proved to be third time lucky before adding a penalty that opened a comfortable 20-0 lead after just 16 minutes.
Treviso had a brief spell with the upper hand and looked effective in the scrum. That saw scrum-half Simon Picone go close before his opposite number Tomas O’Leary had his pass intercepted by flanker Zanni who had the legs to run in from half-way.
Goosen converted to reduce the lead to 20-7 but Munster got back on track before half-time.
O’Gara kicked a second penalty before his pass saw Warwick break clear, kick ahead and beat two defenders to the bouncing ball beyond the try line. That wrapped up the bonus point for Munster, six minutes before half-time.
Even at 30-7 down, Treviso refused to buckle and put the wraps on Munster for 20 minutes of the second half as the game slowed. However Jean de Villiers finally broke the second-half deadlock when his burst allowed Earls to grab a second try. O’Gara converted for 37-7 on 63 minutes.
Damien Varley thought he had scored his first Heineken Cup try but was ruled to have knocked on over the line but the replacement was involved in the game’s final attack that saw Ryan touch down for their sixth try.
Munster team manager Shaun Payne particularly pleased with the way his side approached the game.
“It was a strange match to secure a bonus point as early as that with all the tries scored from long range,” he said afterwards. “It’s not something we’re used to but we were pleased nonetheless.
“We were aware of the problems both Perpignan and Northampton had here in Italy so we were really up for this game as we chase a play-off place.
“A few of the lads hadn’t played for almost three weeks because of rest periods and games being called off due to the weather but I guess our concerns that we might be under-cooked were unfounded.
“The lads were hungry and we made the most of the good conditions with the tries.”
Treviso coach Franco Smith said: “There was a lot of pressure on us and we wanted to do well in front of such a big home crowd. This was a great day for the club but very disappointing on the field because beating a team as strong as Munster was too much to ask.
“We had good plans and intentions but we could not implement any of it against
such a quality team. Munster were very good at stretching our defence and we could not live with their strength and speed.”
Treviso:McLean, Vilk, Sgarbi, Garcia, De Jager, Goosen, Picone, Rizzo, Ghiraldini, Rouyet, A. Pavanello, van Zyl, Vermaak, Zanni, Kingi. Replacements:Botes for Goosen (47), Allori for Rizzo (55), VIdal for Ghiraldini (61), Di Santo for Rouyet (55), E. Pavanello for A. Pavanello (73). Not Used:Filippucci, Orlando, Semenzato.
Tries:Zanni. Cons:Goosen.
Munster:Warwick, Howlett, Earls, de Villiers, D. Hurley, O'Gara, O'Leary, du Preez, Fogarty, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Quinlan, Ronan, Wallace. Replacements:Dowling for D. Hurley (65), Mafi for O'Gara (64), Stringer for O'Leary (60), Buckley for du Preez (72), Varley for Fogarty (66), Brugnaut for Hayes (72), D. Ryan for Quinlan (60), Coughlan for Wallace (40).
Tries:D. Hurley, Earls 2, O'Callaghan, Warwick, D. Ryan. Cons:O'Gara 3, Warwick. Pens:O'Gara 2.
Ref:C White (England).