Leinster claimed the early interprovincial bragging rights as Munster's late surge and Keith earls try could only deliver a losing bonus point.
The visitors’ last win here came in 2014 and Rassie Erasmus’ men never looked like convincing contenders for the major share of the Guinness Pro14 points on offer here.
The sub-plot was Champions Cup preparation and possible Ireland places up for grabs in November, but that was secondary in front of 46,374 in Dublin.
Rory O’Loughlin and Keith Earls both scored two tries apiece, Ian Keatley also touched down for Munster but it was the boot of man-of-the match Johnny Sexton, whose 13 points made the difference in the end.
Sean O’Brien and captain Isa Nacewa missed out through injury for the hosts but they could still boast four Lions in captain Sexton, Robbie Henshaw, making his first appearance of the season, Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong.
The three Munster Lions, Conor Murray, first-Test captain Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander, making his 100th appearance for the province, also started.
Munster wing Andrew Conway and Leinster’s Adam Byrne both threatened to skip away from their respective markers in the early stages and the tempo was set high from the start, Sexton’s big hit on O’Mahony early on also upping the ante.
Leinster were the first to assert any dominance but their time in the Munster half came without reward.
It was all building up to something and soon the game completely opened up.
The first real drama came when Earls sold an outrageous dummy that most of the stadium bought.
The Ireland wing raced clear of the defence and touched down.
Initially, referee Ben Whitehouse awarded the score but a big-screen replay showed a forward pass by Chris Farrell, much to the approval of Sexton, who had lobbied hard for a review, an appeal that initially fell on deaf ears.
The resultant scrum turned into a penalty and the Ireland out-half kicked Leinster into position to open the scoring in the 17th minute.
Rhys Ruddock and Furlong made the hard yards inside the 22 but when the ball came to O’Loughlin nothing looked on.
However, a shimmy and spin from the centre took out three defenders and the 23-year-old had the strength to roll over under the posts.
Soon after Munster were reduced to 14 when Niall Scannell was penalised for a deliberate knock on. There were no complaints from the Ireland hooker.
But Erasmus’s side were soon level. Henshaw failed to gather Sexton’s unsympathetic pass in midfield and Keatley was the most alert, intercepting the loose ball and darting under the posts for a converted try.
There were errors on both sides but they were contributing to a very entertaining affair in the overcast Dublin 4 venue.
And it was about to get better. Sexton had been targeting Earls’ wing with cross-kicks all afternoon with Byrne having a distinct height advantage in that match-up.
The UCD man’s slap-back put Leinster on the front foot and, as the Munster defence struggled to align, the ball was spun to Joey Carbery who set O’Loughlin away and under the posts for his second with five minutes left in the half.
That advantage was increased just after the restart when Sexton landed a penalty after Farrell went high on Carbery within kickable range.
A history-making penalty! Johnny Sexton becomes the top all-time Leinster Rugby points scorer! #LEIvMUN pic.twitter.com/P9NZsgjfVR
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) October 7, 2017
Munster struck back immediately with Tommy O’Donnell producing a lung-bursting run out of heavy traffic from his own 22.
The flanker had Earls in support and he had the gas to out-pace Byrne to dive for the corner for a five-pointer.
Cullen replaced his entire front row just after and the fresh legs of Cian Healy, Sean Cronin and Michael Bent earned a penalty from a scrum on the 22, Sexton obliging with the kick to put eight between the teams.
The former Racing man repeated the trick just three minutes later to make it a nine-point game.
Again, Munster tried to kick back straight away but wasted two penalties in the corner, failing to get the ball back cleanly after a maul.
That was as close as Munster got as the clock kicked down and Earls' second, again in the corner, came with seconds left and proved too little too late to alter the outcome but the losing-bonus point will be welcomed.
Cullen and Erasmus will have learned an awful lot from this outing, but perhaps worryingly, their respective Champions Cup opponents Montpellier and Castres will have also picked up a few lessons for next week.
Leinster: Joey Carbery, Adam Byrne, Rory O’Loughlin, Robbie Henshaw, Barry Daly, Johnny Sexton (Capt), Luke McGrath; Jack McGrath, James Tracy, Tadhg Furlong, Devin Toner, Scott Fardy, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Seán Cronin, Cian Healy, Michael Bent, Ross Molony, Jordi Murphy, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ross Byrne, Fergus McFadden.
Munster: JJ Hanrahan, Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Tyler Bleyendaal, Keith Earls, Ian Keatley, Conor Murray; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, John Ryan, Robin Copeland, Billy Holland, Peter O’Mahony Capt), Tommy O’Donnell, CJ Stander.
Replacements: Rhys Marshall, Liam O’Connor, Stephen Archer, Mark Flanagan, Jack O’Donoghue, Duncan Williams, Rory Scannell, Alex Wootton.
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