Munster 33 Edinburgh 0:MAYBE IT was the Sunday brunchtime kick-off but after a fairly soporific first 40 minutes, Munster exploded into life to such an extent that three tries in the final 10 minutes secured a bonus point with the last play of the game. Out of little acorns and all that.

The opening 40 minutes was that rarity for the Heineken Cup at Thomond Park, namely boring. Munster, admittedly, were full of positive intent as usual, and it’s possibly also fair to say that although their first-half territorial dominance only yielded six points, the defensive effort required took its toll on Edinburgh in the end. It’s funny how often dominant teams are rewarded only in the final quarter.

But from the outset a lamentable Edinburgh looked there for the taking.

Without their orchestrator in chief in Greig Laidlaw and their primary finisher Tim Visser, and smarting from last week’s record drubbing at home to Saracens, Edinburgh looked devoid of confidence and seriously lacking in ambition.

As even Michael Bradley conceded, Visser probably wouldn’t have received a pass anyway.

They were, in mitigation, relatively starved of possession as well. Their lineout, which lost seven of 17 throws last week, coughed up another five here, with Paul O’Connell their tormentor in chief as he was responsible for three of them. One imperious take at the tail almost defied gravity.

Munster also had the superior scrum, where Dave Kilcoyne added to his burgeoning reputation in only his fifth competitive start for Munster. The 23-year-old left an indelible imprint on the game with his strong scrummaging and carrying, and is already looking like a huge prospect.

Operating off scant resources, Edinburgh were profligate in the extreme when using the ball; usually humping it in the air though when they ran it they spilled it with abandon, and one could only recall them visiting the Munster 22 about once in each half.

Given all this Munster were a tad wasteful themselves, ironically in such perfect conditions in Limerick with a warm sun and a billiard-like top, going to the air more than they did at a sodden Stade de France.

They also, as Rob Penney readily conceded, made far too many handling errors.

If they could have asked for one thing at the outset, save for a try, it would have been for a settling fourth-minute penalty for Ian Keatley on the occasion of his first Heineken Cup start at outhalf. That came after a securely won kick-off and two well struck punts from the hand by Keatley, and he followed that opening three-pointer there with a monstrous touchfinder. But after Conor Murray and Seán Dougall drove Netani Talei back over his own line when picking up from the base of a scrum, and Kilcoyne turned the screw at Munster’s ensuing put-in, Munster opted for the posts. And it wasn’t just that Keatley missed, it seemed like an un-Munster thing to do.

Keatley did double the lead moving into the second quarter after Kilcoyne had bounced his opposite number Geoff Cross before missing from inside half-way as otherwise Munster ran too laterally amid their surfeit of errors.

However, a slight change of tack saw them mix up their game more by going up the middle, in part also because the Edinburgh defence pushed up so hard on the outside.

As well as being much more direct, they also made more use of their potent maul, and having begun the second half with renewed purpose went to the corner after their scrum won another penalty.

A knock-on by BJ Botha temporarily lifted the siege.

For variety, they also went “up the guts” a bit more, as Conor Murray put it, and no-one employed this to greater effect than the scrumhalf himself after 50 minutes. Casey Laulala made the initial inroads on a switch up the middle off another strong scrum, Kilcoyne and O’Connell taking the ball up in turn before Murray spotted a gap around the fringes and sniped to take tackles by Stuart McInally and Richie Rees to score under the posts.

A big hit by Doug Howlett on Lee Jones and good breakdown work by the ever-improving Dougall enabled Keatley to make it 16-0 and Kilcoyne would have been in but for Wayne Barnes correctly detecting some blocking by Donncha O’Callaghan, whereupon Munster suddenly cut loose as Edinburgh wilted.

Another steepling box kick by Murray and good chasing by Simon Zebo earned an attacking penalty, and a huge effort by the pack in a well-constructed maul took them to the line where Peter O’Mahony burrowed over.

Almost from the restart Keatley ran hard and diagonally at the Edinburgh line for replacement Paddy Butler to fasten onto the out-half’s offload with a stunning inside line to gallop clear. As good was the way he turned direction and returned the ball to Keatley on his outside, and though he was collared by Nick de Luca short of the line, this time Dougall burrowed over for his second try in two cup games.

Suddenly the crowd were vibrantly alive and Munster had six minutes to secure a bonus point. After Denis Hurley, now on the wing, broke from deep, Munster tapped another penalty into the corner. There was no denying the maul again as Damien Varley peeled away for glory.

That last quarter also featured a welcome return to action for Felix Jones, and a Heineken Cup debut for JJ Hanrahan. All in all, a bountiful endgame.

Scoring sequence: 4 mins: Keatley pen 3-0; 24 mins: Keatley pen 6-0; (half-time 6-0); 51 mins: Murray try, Keatley con 13-0; 57 mins: Keatley pen 16-0; 71 mins: O’Mahony try, Keatley con 23-0; 73 mins: Dougall try 28-0; 80 mins: Varley try 33-0.

MUNSTER: D Hurley; D Howlett (capt), C Laulala, J Downey, S Zebo; I Keatley, C Murray; D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, BJ Botha, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell, D Ryan, S Dougall, P O’Mahony. Replacements: B Holland for O’Connell (61 mins), D Varley for Sherry (62 mins), F Jones for Howlett (65 mins), P Butler for O’Callaghan (72 mins), JJ Hanrahan for Downey (73 mins). Not used: M Horan, S Archer, D Williams.

EDINBURGH RUGBY: G Tonks; L Jones, N De Luca, B Atiga, T Visser; G Hunter, R Rees; J Yapp, R Ford, G Cross, G Gilchrist, S Cox (capt), D Denton, S McInally, N Talei. Replacements: M Scott for Atiga (13 mins), WP Nel for Cross (half-time), D Basilaia for Talei (52 mins), D Fife for Hunter (64 mins), A Titterrell for Ford, R Hislop for Yapp, R McAlpine for Cox (all 76 mins). Not used: C Leck.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng).