Munster got their Heineken Cup campaign back on track by claiming a glorious win over Gloucester at Thomond Park this evening.
Prop Marcus Horan scored two of the four tries as Munster secured a bonus point and avenged last weekend's defeat at Kingsholm. Frankie Sheahan and John Kelly notched the other Munster touchdowns while Ronan O'Gara contributed 15 points. Full-back Jon Goodridge scored Gloucester's try in the second half while Henry Paul hit three penalties.
An early Paul penalty put Gloucester ahead but Munster immediately fought back to put the visitors under pressure. Tempers flared early on with John Hayes and Trevor Woodman getting to know each other in uncompromising fashion. Gloucester hooker Chris Fortey was sinbinned in the 18th minute for deliberately killing the ball during a Munster attack.
Munster pressure did yield a try in the 21st minute with Jim Williams' drive towards the line finished off by Horan. Gloucester hit back to take the lead five minutes later with Paul again successful with a penalty. The Gloucester advantage, however, was shortlived with hooker Sheehan getting his side's second touchdown after the pack had rumbled towards the line.
Paul kept Gloucester in touch with another penalty but a brilliant bit of initiative from Horan yielded a third try in first half injury-time. Munster had earned a penalty in front of the posts but instead of letting O'Gara take the three points, Horan took a quick tap and dived through two tackles to score the try. O'Gara's conversion left Munster 19-9 ahead at half-time.
Gloucester put in a big effort at the start of the second half and full-back Jon Goodridge broke through a weak Horan tackle to touchdown in the 47th minute. However, the English club then suffered a blow when Henry Paul was harshly sinbinned for a deliberate knock-on.
O'Gara kicked the resulting penalty and was successful again in the 56th minute to put his side 11 points clear. After another apparent Horan score had been ruled out for a forward pass, John Kelly did ensure the Munster bonus point by notching his team's fourth try on 67 minutes after a Mike Mullins break.
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
