Munster win in Murrayfield

Edinburgh 9 Munster 35

Edinburgh’s Magners League season fade-out continued as they were swept aside by deposed European champions Munster at Murrayfield.

And now the Gunners’ quest to beat Glasgow in the race to be Scotland’s top Heineken Cup seeds is a lost cause.

Gunners were dealt an instant blow when Munster were handed a controversial seven points from a penalty try.

The home players and fans could only shake their heads in disbelief as Welsh referee Phil Fear ruled they had deliberately hauled down a maul close to the line.

Ronan O’Gara’s conversion from dead in front was a formality.

Edinburgh shook off the setback to battle their way back into the contest thanks to two penalties in quick succession by stand-off Phil Godman.

But O’Gara fired one over at the other end to grab back the momentum for the visitors – and he repeated the feat to give his side more breathing space.

Godman completed his penalty treble to give the Gunners fresh hope in the build-up to the interval.

However, there was enough time for O’Gara to notch his own hat-trick with Scotland star Simon Taylor in the sin-bin.

Any prospect of an Edinburgh fightback was snuffed out with a Paul O’Connell try, goaled by dead-eye O’Gara.

Further Munster efforts came from Alan Quinlan and Denis Fogarty.