Munster on form in Edinburgh

Edinburgh 0 Munster 11

Munster claimed their first ever away Celtic League success against against the Gunners at Murrayfield – but their triumph came at a cost.

Playmaker Paul Burke was rushed to hospital for a spinal scan after being involved in a sickening collision as he chased his own chip.

The action was suspended for almost 10 minutes as the former Ireland hero was encased in a special head-frame and carried off on a golf buggy to the waiting ambulance.

Edinburgh had earned plenty of possession in the opening sparring session, but the good work was wasted by a spate of basic handling mistakes.

The Irishmen made the most of their reprieves by opening up a six-point advantage with two penalty strikes by Burke.

He broke the deadlock after Derrick Lee wandered offside – then repeated the dose in the wake of a similar offence by Alan MacDonald.

Gunners replied in positive fashion, but could not turn pressure into points. They were also thwarted by the pinpoint positional kicking of Burke.

Then came Burke’s injury scare, but his departure could not halt the Munster surge.

And they stretched their lead four minutes after the restart when winger Shaun Payne powered over after latching on to a pass from recalled All Black Christian Cullen.

Gunners continued to have the better of the territorial action, but they were unable to breach the tight Munster defence.

Twice Lee got to within a couple of paces of the line, only to be stopped in his tracks.

Controversial new recruit Ben MacDougall came off the bench for Edinburgh midway through the second half, but failed to make an instant impression.