Munster crush lowly Borders

Borders 0 Munster 36

Borders were given yet another Magners League mauling tonight as they failed to cope with the pace and power of European champions Munster.

Steve Bates' men had proved a handful for Munster in their recent tussles - but they were never in the hunt at Netherdale tonight.

Borders looked lively during the opening exchanges, but they could not turn pressure into valuable points.

Skipper Calum MacRae was handed the first opportunity with a 45-metre penalty, but his effort drifted wide of the target.

Munster launched a series of raids and they edged in front in the 11th minute with a fine strike by Jeremy Manning after John Dalziel was spotted barging at a line-out.

Reivers suffered a blow when flanker Scott Gray was taken off with a serious-looking ankle problem to be replaced by Scotland sevens skipper Scott Forrest.

They fell further behind seven minutes before the interval as winger Shaun Payne picked up an opportunist try.

Former New Zealand star Christian Cullen caught the home markers on the hop with a perfectly-weighted chip towards the corner - and Payne stepped on the gas to get the vital first touch.

Munster carved out another touchdown in stoppage-time through the veteran Frankie Sheahan.

Manning slotted the conversion to make the gap 15 points - leaving the hosts with a tough task to get back into the contest.

But any hopes of a fightback were dashed as the Irishmen rattled up three more tries in quick succession through Alan Quinlan, Tim McGann and Jerry Flannery - all converted by substitute Eoghan Hickey.