Duncan Casey and Munster take full advantage of opportunities

Dragons 12 Munster 38

Duncan Casey took his chance as a late call-up into the Munster starting line-up as he scored two tries in their bonus-point win over the Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade .

Eusebio Guinazu had been due to make his Munster debut at hooker but was a late withdrawal because of a hamstring problem and Casey stepped into his shoes and took full advantage of the opportunity, adding to scores from Robin Copeland, Andrew Smith and Ronan O'Mahony.

The win maintains Munster’s unbeaten away record in the Pro 12, their last defeat in the competition coming last March against Glasgow in the end of season play-off.

Geraint Jones had kicked the Dragons into an early lead with a penalty after earlier striking the post with another attempt but their advantage was quickly cut by Munstermen.

Outhalf Ian Keatley looked full of confidence following his third appearance for Ireland last weekend and he pegged the Dragons deep inside their own half with a superb kick.

From the lineout Munster had the home side under pressure and Copeland, fresh from making his Ireland debut against Georgia, was able to power over from close range.

Keatley added the extras with the boot before the Dragons began to claw their way back into the contest with a second penalty from Jones.

The Dragons wasted a number of good opportunities in the Munster half before Jones put them further ahead with a third penalty five minutes before half-time.

Keatley put Munster back in front with a penalty three minutes after the interval before they extended their lead with a second try through Casey.

Munster began to take full control of the contest following the try but were guilty of not making the most of their territorial dominance on several occasions and with such a slender lead they were always in danger of letting the Dragons back into the contest.

The third try to settle their nerves finally came via centre Smith when he broke the line and was able to race clear under the posts, with Keatley again adding the conversion.

Jones kicked his fourth penalty four minutes later to reduce the deficit to 12 points but it was little more than a brief moment of relief as Munster continued to dominate.

Casey wrapped up the bonus point with a second try from a driving lineout before O’Mahony grabbed a fifth in the dying moments to put the gloss on the win.

DRAGONS: G Jones; T Morgan, R Wardle, A Smith, H Amos; D Jones, R Rees; B Harris, E Dee, D Way, C Hill, R Landman (capt), J Thomas, N Cudd, Evans.

Replacements: J Evans for Rees (60 mins), O Griffiths for Cudd (64 mins),L Fairbrother for Way (65 mins), T Thomas for Dee (79 mins). Not used: O Evans, M Screech, J Tovey, A Hewitt.

MUNSTER: JJ Hanrahan; A Conway, A Smith, D Hurley, R O'Mahony; I Keatley, C Sheridan; J Ryan, D Casey, S Archer; Donncha O'Callaghan (capt), B Holland; P Butler, S Dougall, R Copeland.

Replacements: J Murphy for Conway (38 mins), Dwilliams for Sheridan, C Stander for Dougall (both 58 mins), P Howard for Smith (71 mins), A Cotter for Ryan, N Scannell for Casey, BJ Botha for Archer, Dave O'Callaghan for Donncha O'Callaghan (all 73 mins).

Referee: M Liperini (Italy).

Attendance: 5,783