Munster got the job done but were made to graft for their 29-11 bonus-point win over Treviso at Thomond Park on Saturday to reclaim third place in the RaboDirect PRO12.
The boot of Chris Burton gave Treviso an early lead after Munster were penalised for holding on.
The hosts roared straight back though and saw a Niall Ronan try disallowed for a forward pass before Ronan O'Gara struck a simple penalty to level the scores.
Minutes later, Ronan was over the line for a second time after a Lifeimi Mafi offload carved open the Treviso defence.This time the try was given and O'Gara added the conversion to give Munster a 10-3 lead.
O'Gara then spurned the opportunity to extend Munster's lead when he missed a penalty before Burton narrowed the deficit to four with his second penalty of the evening.
Treviso were awarded another penalty on the stroke of half-time but Burton's effort rebounded back off the post.
Munster began the second period in determined mood and were rewarded when Keith Earls crossed for a crucial try, O'Gara adding the conversion.
Treviso struck back with a try of their own following a swift move from the line-out, but Burton was wide with the conversion meaning Munster held a 17-11 lead.
On the hour Munster had a second try disallowed, but barely a minute later the video referee rubber-stamped James Coughlan's effort, which O'Gara converted.
The hosts had taken the game by the scruff of the neck, and they killed off Treviso's resistance when Simon Zebo slid over in the corner in the 76th minute to secure the bonus point.
The scorers
For Munster:
Tries: Ronan , Earls, Coughlan, Zebo
Cons: O'Gara 3
Pens: O'Gara
For Treviso:
Try: Vosawai
Pens: Burton 2
Yellow card: Picone (Treviso - 80th min)
Munster : 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements:16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Tommy O'Donnell, 21 Tomas O'Leary, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Danny Barnes.
Benetton Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Gonzalo Padṛ, 5 Corniel Van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello (c), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Franco Sbaraglini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Diego Vidal, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 19 Valerio Bernaḅ, 20 Enrico Pavanello, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Edoardo Gori, 23 Alberto Di Bernardo.
Venue: Thomond Park<
Referee: Nigel Owen (WRU)
Comments
mcdb06 says...
Munster had enough opportunities in the 2nd half to put up a big score, need to be more clinical. Still havnt come close to their potential despite being a weaker side compared to previous seasons. Overall this performance wasnt great though
Posted 11:21 08th January 2012