Munster's Clayton McMillan era roared into life at Croke Park, as his side produced a statement win, and a performance to match, to maintain their 100% start to the season.
A masterful Tadhg Beirne display inspired their 31-14 bonus-point win against Leinster, as they toppled their biggest rivals for the first time in five attempts, and for the first time in a regular season game since 2018.
The province have now won four games from four under their new Kiwi coach, and they saved their best performance for the bright lights and 51,859 crowd at GAA HQ.
In a game that was billed as Jack Crowley v Sam Prendergast, Beirne stole the show in his first appearance of the season, and was at his very best, producing huge defensive turnovers on his own, while contributing to a maul defence that denied the hosts from getting back into the game in the third quarter.
Crowley had run the show in the first half, a performance that will be hard to ignore by Ireland head coach Andy Farrell.
The out-half was 100% off the tee, while he laid the groundwork as Munster recovered from conceding an early Rónan Kelleher try (below).
His crossfield kick to Thaakir Abrahams put them in position to score their first try through Brian Gleeson, while a majestic chip over the top for Tom Farrell saw them move 14-7 in front on 23 minutes.
They would take a 21-7 lead into the half-time break, Ethan Coughlan running 80 metres to score after intercepting a Jamison Gibson-Park pass, and while Leinster brought huge pressure in the third quarter, they couldn’t find a way past a belligerent Munster defence until the final play of the game.
By the time Scott Penny crossed the line for that second Leinster try, the result was beyond doubt, and a Munster penalty try had secured their bonus.
Twice in the opening minutes Leinster opened Munster through the middle; Jordan Larmour – a late replacement for Tommy O’Brien - latched onto a Gibson-Park offload to break free, while soon after Jamie Osborne and Tadhg Furlong linked up to get into the 22.
Munster survived those attacks, but their line was soon breached. After five minutes, Leinster won their second scrum penalty of the game and kicked to the corner, with Kelleher diving over off the back of a rolling maul to score, and Prendergast converted to make it 7-0.
The Leinster scrum was dominant, but when they won their third penalty at the setpiece on 11 minutes, Prendergast missed touch, and Munster ran it back for their first real attacking opportunity.
Crowley connected with Abrahams on a neat box-kick, and while Beirne was held up over the line, Munster had being playing with advantage and scored from the resulting penalty, Gleeson forced his way over the line (below), and Crowley’s conversion levelled the game at seven apiece.
After the slow start, Munster had settled well into the game, and while they let a promising attack slip around the 20 minute mark, they soon made up for it with a stunning try.
From a midfield lineout, Diarmuid Barron hit Beirne at the tail, and after playing off the top, Crowley dinked a beautiful chip in behind the Leinster defence and Farrell timed his run beautifully to snatch the ball from the grasp of Jimmy O’Brien and run in under the posts to score, and a simple Crowley conversion made it 14-7 on 24 minutes.
If Farrell’s poach of that high ball got Munster supporters off their seats, there would be an even better heist to come.
Back to back penalties had given Leinster possession and territory to work with, and on 35 minutes – just as they looked to be working their way through the 22 – Gibson-Park tried to find Snyman with a pass, but Coughlan read the play to perfection, intercepting the pass and sprinting more than 80 metres to score, sending Munster 21-7 in front, and they brought that lead into the half-time break after a big defensive stand.
They had some defending to do right from the restart after Andrew Porter won a jackal penalty, but after they stopped the maul at source, Beirne won a huge turnover to relieve the danger.
Leinster brought Dan Sheehan off the bench to inject a spark, but his first act was to give away a breakdown penalty, which Crowley knocked over the posts on 48 minutes, moving Munster into a three-score lead on 24-7.
Leinster could have got the first of those scores almost instantly when Beirne was pinged at a breakdown for not rolling away, but after going to the corner, Josh van der Flier was held up over the line, and that frustration was compounded further when yet another maul was stopped by the Munster defence in the 54th minute.
One by one the chances came and went; Coughlan nearly pulled off a repeat of his intercept under his own posts, while from the resulting scrum Beirne somehow pulled off another miracle turnover, a feat he repeated on 61 minutes following a Leinster attack that lasted upwards of 20 phases.
The latter of those turnovers broke Leinster, and from there the result never looked beyond doubt.
With three minutes left, the job was complete. It looked like Farrell had reached out to score the bonus-point try, but while he had been held short, Ciarán Frawley did so illegally, resulting in a penalty try.
It was party time for Munster, and Gavin Coombes was able to smile and pump his fist in the air as he jogged off with a late sin-bin. Penny’s late try won’t dent the celebrations.
Leinster scorers: Tries: Rónan Kelleher, Scott Penny
Cons: Sam Prendergast (2)
Munster scorers: Tries: Brian Gleeson, Tom Farrell, Ethan Coughlan, Penalty Try
Cons: Jack Crowley (3)
Pens: Jack Crowley (1)
Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose; Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Paddy McCarthy, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Alex Soroka, Josh van der Flier (capt), Max Deegan.
Replacements: Dan Sheehan (for Kelleher, 45), Andrew Porter (for McCarthy, 16 [HIA]), Thomas Clarkson (for Furlong, 62), Brian Deeny (for Snyman, 43), Scott Penny (for Deegan, 71), Fintan Gunne (for Gibson-Park, 70), Ciarán Frawley (for Prendergast, 38-40 [HIA], for Henshaw, 56), Jimmy O’Brien (for Larmour, 22 [HIA]).
Munster: Shane Daly; Andrew Smith, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Ethan Coughlan; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan (for Beirne, 64-76 [HIA]); Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley; Tadhg Beirne (capt), Jack O'Donoghue, Brian Gleeson.
Replacements: Lee Barron (for Diarmuid Barron, 40), Jeremy Loughman (for Milne, 52), Ronan Foxe (for Ryan, 62), Jean Kleyn (for Edogbo, 40), Gavin Coombes (for Gleeson, 28), Paddy Patterson (for Coughlan, 56), JJ Hanrahan, Alex Nankivell (for Smith, 9).
