Munster fly-half Ian Keatley scored 20 points in the Irish side's 30-3 victory over Edinburgh in Cork on Saturday.
Keatley's points were complemented by tries in the final quarter from CJ Stander and Mike Sherry capping off the home win.
A Piers Francis penalty gave Edinburgh an early lead and the Scottish team were only 6-3 behind at the break, but Keatley's right boot pushed the hosts out of sight in the Cork rain after the interval.
Munster had to endure a difficult first quarter during which BJ Botha was penalised for not scrummaging straight - referee Ian Davies sin-binned the South African prop in the 13th minute.
Francis, who missed a difficult first penalty, made no mistake with his second attempt as Edinburgh edged into the lead.
Davies' officiating of the scrum continued to dominate proceedings with Munster winning the next two penalties in the set-piece, the first allowing Keatley to kick the hosts level.
Botha got the verdict over John Yapp on his return and Keatley converted the second of two quickfire penalties, punishing Richie Rees for being caught offside. Greig Tonks, Netani Talei and Ben Atiga tested the Munster defence late on, but Stander and company ensured the first half remained try-less.
Munster opened the second half on the front foot, JJ Hanrahan dinking a clever kick in behind Dougie Fife but the Edinburgh winger beat Johne Murphy to the bobbling ball.
The hosts maintained their presence in the visitors' 22 and another Keatley penalty gave them a six-point buffer after Willem Nel infringed in a scrum.
The showery conditions made for a scrappy encounter and each penalty kick was becoming increasingly important.
Munster's stand-in captain Jamie Coughlan was caught by a high tackle from Rees and Keatley slotted the resulting kick from a central position.
The province's direct style forced further mistakes from territory-starved Edinburgh and a fifth successful strike from Keatley had his side 15-3 ahead by the hour mark.
A sixth followed from the fly-half before a pinpoint Hanrahan pass sent Ivan Dineen scurrying up the right touchline. He kicked ahead for the supporting Stander, who went over unopposed for a 68th-minute converted try.
Munster, who did the double on Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup pool stages, crossed again with five minutes remaining - replacement hooker Sherry scrambling past Talei after an assist from Stander.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Stander, Sherry
Con: Keatley
Pens: Keatley 6
For Edinburgh:
Pens: Francis
Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Ivan Dineen, 12 JJ Hanrahan, 11 Danny Barnes, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan (capt), 7 Sean Dougall, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Ian Nagle, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 J Ryan, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Paddy Butler, C Sheridan, Scott Deasy.
Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Ben Atiga, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Stuart McInally, 6 Sean Cox (c), 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Perry Parker, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Andy Titterrell, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Steven Lawrie, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Alex Allan, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Gregor Hunter, 23 Lee Jones.
Comments
THESKUTCH says...
Edinburgh are actually a disgrace
Posted 13:25 10th February 2013