The Emirates Lions slipped to a third straight defeat in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as they went down 33-3 (half-time 12-3) to a resurgent Munster side in Cork on Friday night.
The Irish powerhouse, who had a slow start to the season, surged into the top eight with a five-try to-zero victory in atrocious conditions at Musgrave Park, where the visitors from South Africa struggled for most of the match.
The men from Johannesburg had less than 40% of the possession and territorial advantage, which meant they could never really get going in the tricky conditions, while they also missed way too many tackles as Munster made the most of their opportunities.
Jordan Hendrikse put the Emirates Lions ahead in the fifth minute with a penalty goal, but they didn't bother the scorers thereafter as Munster took control of the clash.
Scott Buckley and Jack O'Donoghue scored in the first half as the hosts took a nine-point lead into the break, but they added three more tries in the second half to seal a big win, bagging the try-scoring bonus point in the process.
Paddy Patterson and Liam Coombes added their names to the score sheet in the 48th and 74th minutes before Buckley got his second in the dying stages of the match.
Scorers:
Munster: Tries: Jack O'donoghue, Paddy Patterson, Liam Coombes, Scott Buckley (2). Conversions: Ben Healy (4)
Emirates Lions: Penalty: Jordan Hendrikse.
Teams
Munster: 15. Mike Haley, 14. Shane Daly, 13. Malakai Fekitoa, 12. Rory Scannell, 11. Liam Coombes, 10. Ben Healy, 9. Paddy Patterson, 8. Alex Kendellen, 7. John Hodnett, 6. Jack O’Donoghue (c), 5. Gavin Coombes, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Roman Salanoa, 2. Diarmuid Barron, 1. Josh Wycherley. Replacements: 16. Scott Buckley, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. Stephen Archer, 19. Cian Hurley, 20. Jack O’Sullivan, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Dan Goggin, 23. Patrick Campbell.
Emirates Lions: 15. Quan Horn, 14. Stean Pienaar, 13. Henco van Wyk, 12. Marius Louw (c), 11. Edwill van der Merwe, 10. Jordan Hendrikse, 9. Morné van den Berg, 8. Emmanuel Tshituka, 7. Emile van Heerden, 6. Jarod Cairns, 5. Darrien Landsberg, 4. Ruan Venter, 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2. Pieter Botha, 1. Jean-Pierre Smith. Replacements: 16. Michael van Vuuren, 17. Morgan Naudé, 18. Ruan Smith, 19. Willem Alberts, 20. Sibusiso Sangweni, 21. Andre Warner, 22. Gianni Lombard, 23. Manuel Rass.
