Edinburgh 9 Munster 31:Ireland lock Paul O'Connell celebrated his return to Magners Celtic League rugby with victory over Edinburgh at Murrayfield last night to boost his side's standing in the championship. O'Connell, voted man of the match, was at the heart of a powerful forward effort that paved the way for Munster's victory over the Scottish side.
Crucially, Munster amassed four tries to claim a bonus point, three of the touchdowns coming in the second half when they dominated the match.
Behind the powerful Munster pack scrumhalf Tomás O'Leary excelled with several quick breaks and there were a number of eye-catching touches from the fullback Brian Carney.
In terms of the top echelons of the league this encounter meant little but for Munster it was emphatic revenge for their earlier defeat by Edinburgh.
Munster showed their muscle straight from the kick-off with a rolling maul that gained some 40 metres, with Edinburgh seemingly helpless to stop the advance.
But their real strike came five minutes later from a penalty-created lineout and the inevitable drive to the line. Edinburgh were forced to collapse the maul, leaving referee Phil Fear with no option but to award a penalty try that gave Ronan O'Gara an easy conversion kick.
Edinburgh hit back with a series of sniping runs that ended with Munster conceding a penalty and outhalf Phil Godman kicking the three points.
Then when Munster were caught offside, Godman again meted out punishment with another goal kick, only for O'Gara to reopen the gap with his first penalty attempt.
A yellow card shown to secondrow Mick O'Driscoll left Munster short-handed but Edinburgh were unable to take advantage of the imbalance and in fact it was Munster who all but scored when Barry Murphy hacked forward a loose ball only to knock on as he tried to touch down.
Munster, however, claimed their dividend with a second penalty goal from O'Gara, but almost immediately Godman replied in kind to reduce Munster's lead to four points.
Then with Simon Taylor in the sinbin, O'Gara again struck with the boot to give Munster a 16-9 half-time lead.
Edinburgh had a chance to reply just after the break but Godman this time was off target.
Edinburgh's troubles continued as Munster drove a lineout with massive force to give O'Connell a try, converted from wide out by O'Gara.
The home side's misery deepened after O'Gara produced a delicate kick ahead for flanker Alan Quinlan to run on to the ball and score under the posts, giving O'Gara another easy conversion.
It was looking like a rout as replacement hooker Denis Fogarty finished off a move started by Anthony Foley with his side's fourth try to ensure the vital bonus point and a solid win for Munster.
Ospreys were dealt a league title jolt as the great Glasgow revival continued in an epic encounter at Hughenden last night. Ospreys missed their opportunity to go top of the table and now lie in third place, one point behind Leinster after their 29-26 defeat.
Glasgow looked down and out when they trailed by 10 points at the interval - but they produced a stunning fightback.
EDINBURGH: L Lopez-Fleming; R Dewey, B Cairns, M Dey, S Webster; P Godman , G Laidlaw; A Jacobsen, A Kelly, G Cross; A Strokosch, S Murray (capt); S Taylor, A MacDonald, A Hogg. Replacements: A Dickinson for Cross (40 mins); D Hodge for Dey (57 mins); S Cross for MacDonald, J Senio for Laidlaw (both 64 mins); R Rennie for Webster (71 mins).
MUNSTER: B Carney; A Horgan, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; F Pucciariello, F Sheahan, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll, P O'Connell (capt); A Quinlan, J O'Sullivan, A Foley. Replacements: M Lawlor for Carney (50 mins); D Wallace for O'Sullivan (40 mins); D Leamy for Foley (61 mins); Foley for Wallace (69 mins); D Fogarty for Sheahan (70 mins); B O'Meara for O'Leary, F Roche for Pucciariello (both 75 mins).
Referee: P Fear (Wales).
