Newport Gwent Dragons leaked 45 points for the second weekend running as Munster muscled their way up to third in the Magners League table courtesy of Saturday’s seven-try triumph in Cork.
Munster ran in seven tries to score a comfortable Musgrave Park win with backs Peter Stringer, Kieran Lewis, Brian Carney and Rua Tipoki each touching down, while forward trio Donnacha Ryan, Federico Pucciariello and Frankie Sheahan also got their names on the scoresheet.
Badly beaten by London Irish last Saturday and winless on their last 13 visits to Ireland, the Dragons kept in the game thanks to first half tries from full-back Martyn Thomas and winger Richard Mustoe but Jamie Ringer’s 57th-minute effort proved little more than a consolation score.
Most of the damage was done in the first half as Munster’s set piece dominance and slick handling saw them expose the visitors’ defence.
Lifeimi Mafi provided the first real excitement with a stirring 20-metre break. Martyn Thomas grounded him with a crunching tackle but Munster quickly regrouped and Stringer dived over, four minutes later, from a close range ruck.
Television match official Olan Trevor confirmed the score and Paul Warwick, having missed an earlier penalty, added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
The Dragons were back level in the 16th-minute when good hands from Michael Owen put Thomas through a gap and the full-back’s excellent line of attack saw him weave over from 30 metres out.
But Munster really seized control when the Welsh region lost lock Adam Jones to the sin-bin, midway through the half.
The hosts opted for a scrum from the resulting penalty and while Anthony Foley was stopped short, the Dragons’ rearguard was caught out when young lock Ryan stretched and made the whitewash.
Warwick converted and also added the extras to Lewis’ fine score. The centre’s first try since his move south from Leinster began with a Tony Buckley burst forward, Denis Hurley made excellent ground with a hand-off and charging run out on the right and Lewis was up in support to power over.
Against the run of play, the men in black cut the gap to 21-12 when Mustoe scythed his way through for an opportunistic try. He outstripped Carney to make the left corner and give Paul Turner’s men some hope.
However, Munster grabbed two late tries to take a 33-12 lead into the second half. Sheahan was mauled over and Pucciariello followed up on an Alan Quinlan-led attack to nab his first try in 18 months.
The try glut continued with Ringer cancelling out Carney’s touchdown, coming up to the hour mark, but the game petered out with both coaches emptying their benches.
Despite having replacement prop Marcus Horan sin-binned for punching in injury-time, Munster ended the night in style with Warwick charging down a kick from Thomas to tee up Tipoki for the game’s tenth and final try.
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