Munster suffered a 28-34 defeat at home in the URC as Edinburgh ran out deserved winners at Virgin Media Park.
Munster scored four tries and got within seven of Edinburgh as Ian Costello’s side came away with two points.
Edinburgh had the early possession and they put the first points on the board after five minutes when Ross Thompson landed a penalty from over 40m out.
A half-break and offload from Tom Farrell set John Hodnett on his way before the Clonakilty RFC man released Shay McCarthy but unfortunately, the winger spilt the ball in contact as Munster looked to make an immediate response.
Munster kept pushing and won a scrum penalty against the head and kicked to the corner. The rolling maul stopped just short of line and after a few phases, Munster knocked the ball on to much relief from the visitors.
However, Munster got back in the game after 15 minutes with the first try of the game after Alex Nankivell powered through two tackles on his return from injury to dot down. Billy Burns notched the conversion to give Munster a 7-3 lead.
A high tackle on Ben O’Connor gave Munster a lineout in the Edinburgh half and despite some positive play after this, Edinburgh were awarded a penalty after an accidental offside from the home side.
It was from this possession that Edinburgh struck back as they cut through the Munster defence before Thompson received an offload to dot down under the posts. He landed his own conversion to give Edinburgh a 7-10 lead after 24 minutes.
Edinburgh extended their lead five minutes later when a kick in behind was dotted down by Matt Currie. The touchline conversion from Thompson gave Edinburgh a 7-17 lead.
Currie and Magnus Bradbury both added further tries as the half came to a close as Edinburgh took a 7-29 lead going into the half-time break.
10 minutes into the second half, Nankivell got his and Munster’s second try with Burns converting to bring it back to 14-29.
Poor play from Munster resulted in another Edinburgh try 10 minutes later when indecision under a high ball led to the visitors’ first try of the second half which went unconverted.
Munster got back with a try from Ben O’Connor after 64 minutes which Tony Butler converted to put 13 points between the sides.
Munster needed two converted tries in the final 15 minutes to get the win but could only manage one as Sean O’Brien crossed with the clock in the red. Burns’ conversion ensured that Munster came away with two match points as Edinburgh ran out deserved winners.
Scorers:
Munster Rugby: Tries: Alex Nankivell (2), Ben O’Connor, Seán O’Brien. Conversions: Billy Burns (3), Tony Butler.
Edinburgh Rugby: Tries: Ross Thompson, Matt Currie (3), Magnus Bradbury. Conversions: Ross Thompson. Penalty: Ross Thompson.
Teams:
Munster Rugby: 15 Ben O’Connor, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Shay McCarthy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ethan Coughlan, 8 Brian Gleeson, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tom Ahern, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Evan O'Connell, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell (c), 1 Josh Wycherley. Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Mark Donnelly, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Ruadhán Quinn, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Seán O’Brien.
Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Matt Currie, 13 James Lang, 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Ross McCann, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (c), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Luke Crosbie, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Boan Venter. Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Glen Young, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Mark Bennett.