Munster 18 Leicester 26: There was little friendly fire on show last night as Munster's display delighted the 7,000-partisan crowd. While the Tigers provided the flair and two tries from Ireland's Geordan Murphy, Munster showed passion and skill.
Frankie Sheahan returned to competitive action and was busy around the park while throwing only one ball astray in the lineout and Christian Cullen gave his shoulder a good workout. After one minute Munster outhalf Jeremy Manning arced over a difficult penalty from the right side.
Leicester settled quicker and forced the way up front where they got the measure of Munster's inexperienced pack. Daryl Gibson and Dan Hipkiss asked questions of midfielders James Downey and Tom Gleeson while Tom Varnell and Geordan Murphy showed early signs they could cut open defences. All their pressure resulted in a try on nine minutes when Murphy crossed after shaking off Ian Dowling.
The Tigers were relentless, and on 19 minutes Jordan Crane released Hipkiss on the wing but Cullen put in a huge tackle to deny the Leicester centre a try. The exchanges at the breakdown were abrasive, especially between Brendan Cutriss and Shane Jennings while John O'Sullivan showed good leadership. But Leicester, showing more pace and imagination behind the scrum, struck again in the 22nd minute. Varndell manoeuvred into midfield, cut through the centre and put Murphy in from 20 metres.
Munster's first real incision inside the Tigers' half came in the 28th minute as Manning touched down. He converted, and in the 33rd minute added a penalty. Four minutes after the restart Seru Rabeni showed great strength to beat Cullen and Dowling to score in the corner.
Louis Deacon and Freddie Pucciarriello were sinbinned for fighting in the 52nd minute.
Leicester's most dangerous attacker in this half was San Vsety and, while he was denied by a great covering clearance by Dowling in the 56th minute, he cut an excellent line in the 63rd minute whistling through a tiring Munster defence. Andy Goode converted. Munster's late burst produced a deserved try. Within five metres of the Tigers line the ball was recycled three times before James Coughlan muscled his way over.
MUNSTER: C Cullen; J Kelly, T Gleeson, J Downey, I Dowling; J Manning, C Delooze; E McGovern, F Sheahan, F Pucciarriello; C Wyatt, D Ryan, J Coughlan, B Cutriss, J O'Sullivan. Rerplacements: D Hurley for McGovern inj (13 mins), S Payne for Downey inj (54), T Ryan for Pucciarriello (52), M Lawlor for Downey (67), F Pucciariello for Hurley (70), R Noonan for Cutriss (71), E Hickey for Manning and S O'Connor for Wyatt (72), C O'Boyle for Kelly (78), S Cronin for Sheahan (83).
LEICESTER: S Vesty; G Murphy, D Hipkiss, D Gibson (capt), T Varndell; P Burke, H Ellis; M Castrogiovanni, G Chuter, J White, L Cullen, L Deacon, J Crane, S Jennings, H Tuilagi. Replacements: S Rabeni for Varndell (half-time), M Michaels for Hipkiss (45 mins), G Hickie for Chuter and F Murphy for Ellis (both 53), T Croft for Tuilagi (54), A Goode for Burke (58), Hipkiss for Murphy (60), Tuilagi for Cullen inj (76).
Referee: A Rogan (IRFU).
