However Darren Edwards side were unable to make their numerical supremacy count and saw Ian Keatley land a late penalty to ensure the Dragons are still seeking their first victory on Irish soil.
Even with a host of household names absent, the 2010/11 Champions were rarely troubled by the Dragons in Cork but the visitors will take heart from the periods they controlled the ball and the game but a victory never looked on the cards.
Ian Keatley missed the opportunity to open the scoring for Munster with a simple penalty drifting wide after an uneventful start with both sides struggling to find their feet in this first league encounter.
The fly-half’s miss though did spark life into the game but the Dragons’ rush defence was more than a match for Munster’s initial wave of attacks.
After soaking up the pressure it was the visitors who opened the scoring on the 20 minute mark, full-back Steffan Jones slotting a 51-metre penalty.
The lead was short lived though with Keatley opening his account directly from the re-start after the Dragons were again penalised at the breakdown.
Munster started to look more dangerous and their attack more telling and from a Johne Murphy break the ball was recycled quickly and Danny Barnes dived over for the game’s first try.
Barnes’ centre partner Lifeimi Mafi then stretched the lead for the Champions just before the break. A simple line-out move saw Billy Holland create room for Denis Hurley at the tail of the set-piece and the winger sprinted through on the angle and fed Mafi, who had the simplest of walk-ins to score. Keatley converted but the Dragons did have the last word of the first forty with Jason Tovey adding a penalty.
Two yellow cards early in the second period disrupted the flow of the game which again was being played out for long period between the two ten-metre lines. Neither side could capitalise whilst their opponents were down to 14 and it wasn’t until Munster received a second yellow card, just minutes after Mafi had returned to the field from the first that either side added to their tally. Captain Peter O’Mahony was sent to the sin-bin for the hosts and Tovey added the three points from the resulting penalty.
In contrast to Munster, who seemed inpatient at the lack of second-half progress the Dragons continued to plug away and remained determined to stay in the contest. Damien Varley then joined O’Mahony on the sidelines after his temper boiled over following a scrum and again Tovey took the points on offer and reduced the deficit to just five points.
A second Keatley penalty seven minutes from time eased the worry for the home side and denied the Dragons a losing bonus point.
