Munster make it two from two

Sole try-scorer: Doug Howlett

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Teams

• Munster
• Treviso

Munster only managed a solitary try but emerged with a comfortable 19-6 victory over Treviso at Thomond Park.

Munster were far from their best but an early try from former New Zealand international Doug Howlett and four penalties from 25-year-old fly-half Ian Keatley was enough to see of the challenge off Treviso.

The Italians had taken an early lead through an Alberto Di Bernardo penalty but Howlett's first try of the season, which was comfortably touched down underneath the posts after six minutes, meant their lead was short-lived.

Keatley added the conversion and three penalties at regular intervals throughout the first half as the visitors were unable to keep their discipline at times and offered relatively little in attack.

And any hopes that Treviso may have had of getting back into the game in the second half were dealt a severe blow when centre Alberto Sgarbi was sent to the sin bin and Keatley added another three points to make it 19-3.

Di Bernardo did reduce the arrears with a penalty of his own midway through the half but a comeback was never on the cards and the hosts and last season's semi-finalists were happy to simply see out the win.

A late yellow card for Mike Sherry was an unwanted and unnecessary blemish for Munster but they were good value for their second successive victory of the season and whilst Treviso battled hard and were competitive, it was something of a reality check for them after a superb opening weekend win against the champion Ospreys.

The scorers:

For Munster:
Try: Howlett
Con: Keatley
Pens: Keatley

For Benetton Treviso:
Pens: Di Bernardo 2

Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett (capt), 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Luke O'Dea, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Sean Dougall, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Ivan Dineen.

Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Alberto Sgarbi, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Paul Derbyshire, 7 Dean Budd, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Valerio Bernaḅ, 4 Antonio Pavanello (capt), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet, 19 Corniel Van Zyl, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Alessandro Zanni, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 Kristopher Burton.

Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)