Munster 18 Aironi 6: On the day his Irish counterpart scored 23 points for Leinster, Ronan O'Gara produced a kicking masterclass to score all of Munster's against Aironi in an unrelenting deluge at Musgrave Park.
Leinster had briefly nipped into second ahead of their provincial rivals, but Munster stole it back by virtue of their points difference after the late kick-off. Both sides are well placed, however, two points adrift of Pro 12 leaders Ospreys, who lost 28-17 in Glasgow.
Munster put in a solid if unspectacular opening half to lead by 9-3 at the interval, despite playing into the wind and rain in first-half.
That lead owed a lot to Aironi not taking their chances.
Their Argentine-born Italian international Luciano Orquera had a nightmare with the boot on his debut, after joining from Brive in France. He was short with an ambitious attempt from distance on the right-wing after twelve minutes, before slotting over an effort from in front of the posts a minute later.
He then somehow pulled an effort from 20 metres left and wide towards the end of the opening quarter, after a bout of pressure from the visitors forced Munster on the back foot.
Munster struggled to break down a good Aironi defence and even when the likes of Damian Varley broke from deep, Munster were unable to punish the Italians, losing a five-metre scrum just when it seemed they would turn the screw.
O'Gara took his haul in the competition past the 800 points mark two minutes after the restart when he stroked over an excellent penalty from 35 metres on the right-wing to make 12-3.
They resisted the temptation to go for the corner when Aironi were penalised inside their 22 after 48 minutes, with O’Gara again displaying superb accuracy to land his fifth of the night from the right touchline.
The conditions continued to deteriorate but O’Gara extended Munster’s lead before he departed to a rousing reception from the crowd of 6,852.Orquera, having missed three with the wind, somehow managed to landed one into the gale from 30 metres after 63 minutes but it was a brief respite for the visitors.
Yet, while the outcome of the game was never in doubt, Munster struggled to turn possession into a try against a spirited Aironi defence.
Duncan Weir kicked 23 points for Glasgowat Firhill. Coupled with a try from lock Richie Gray it was enough to hand Ospreystheir first loss of the season.
All the visitors' points came from Matthew Morgan, including a try in the final minute that the he was unable to convert.
