John Kelly went over either side of Federico Pucciariello’s try before Mossie Lawler and Trevor Halstead both crossed in injury time to cap an historic season. A young Blues side included 20-year-old outside-half David Flanagan and they offered brief resistance when hooker Duane Goodfield scored on 18 minutes.
The result saw Munster sneak above them into third in the Celtic League though the Blues remain the top ranked Welsh region. It was only seven minutes before the party got into full swing when Kelly opened the scoring. Kelly found Mossie Lawler and Shaun Payne before latching onto the return pass to sneak over in the corner. Jeremy Manning converted and added a penalty before the Blues responded.
Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips showed his strength with a typical burst to heave Blues close to the line before Goodfield stepped inside to score. Pucciariello shoved his way over from close range for Munster who went into the break 18-8 ahead following further penalties from Manning and Nick MacLeod.
Kelly grabbed a second in the 64th minute thanks to Paul Burke’s clever one-handed flick pass from Mike Pendergast before Halstead wrapped up the bonus point in injury time. The Ireland centre stepped off the bench to set up Lawler before running back Flanagan’s pass to cap a memorable fortnight.
Munster:
Tries – J Kelly (2), F Pucciariello, M Lawler, T Halstead
Con – P Burke (2), S Manning
Pen – S Manning (2)
Blues:
Try – D Goodfield
Pen – N MacLeod
Referee: A Macpherson (Scotland)
Attendance: 13,200
