Munster will face Benetton Treviso in the Pro 14 quarter-finals after defeating rivals Connacht 27-14 at Thomond Park on Saturday.
Tries from Tadhg Beirne, Mike Haley and JJ Hanrahan pushed Munster past the Western side, however, Glasgow’s win over Edinburgh ensured Munster finished in second place in Conference A.
Munster were forced into a change before the match even began as Conor Murray was injured in the warm-up, with Neil Cronin taking his place in the starting XV.
The visitors had the chance to get the first score of the game when they received a penalty, but debutant Conor Dean missed his kick.
Seven minutes on and Tyler Bleyendaal got Munster on the scoreboard thanks to a perfect penalty.
Connacht came close to scoring the game’s opening try moment later only for Dan Goggin to make a recovery tackle to deny them.
Finlay Bealham did get them on the board when he powered over in the 24 minute. Dean made no mistake with the kick to make it 7-3.
Stephen Fitzgerald denied Andrew Conway an intercept try, after the restart but Beirne gave the hosts the lead once more when he out-fought Niyi Adeolokun to touch down. Bleyendaal made it 10-7 with the conversion on the half-hour mark.
Munster scored again before half-time, with Conway releasing captain Peter O’Mahony who in turn sent Haley on his way to score his sides second try. Bleyendaal was perfect from the tee again to leave it at 17-7 going into half-time.
The second-half started much like the end of the first with Munster on the attack but a 56th minute Bleyendaal penalty was all they had to show for their dominance.
Connacht took full advantage of a Jeremy Loughman yellow-card when Eoin McKeon got in for a five-pointer with 10 minutes left on the clock. Dean converted and there were only six points in it.
However, four minutes later and Hanrahan broke through a gap in the defence to touch down and end any hopes of a Connacht comeback. He converted his own try to make it 27-14 and that’s how it ended.
Speaking after the game Munster out-half Bleyendaal was delighted to end the regular season on a win ahead of the play-offs.
“We made it tough at the end, but it was a really good performance and it was nice to build some momentum into the play-offs,” he said.
Munster now face Benetton in the quarter-finals next Saturday while Connacht face Ulster with all teams vying for the two semi-final spots.
