Three up as Munster stay on the winning trail

ULTIMATELY it was a decent night at the office; third game, third win and a place at the top of the Magners League. It’s exactly where Munster wanted to be at this delicate early stage of the season.

There might have been some gaps on the terraces – the official attendance of 16,100 fell short of aspirations, and there were some groans of frustration as a fired-up team lost scoring opportunities to put the result beyond doubt much earlier. Yet there was satisfaction at the end.

The injury toll could be more a worry than the mixed display; Denis Leamy was denied another captain’s run with a rib injury sustained in training, Ian Dowling’s night was cut short inside five minutes with a hip problem and Felix Jones twisted his knee late on while Denis Fogarty will today undergo a “medical procedure” in Dublin to repair shoulder damage that forced his exit after 32 minutes.