Munster's hopes of achieving success in the Pro12 play-offs were boosted by a thumping bonus-point win over Edinburgh at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The margin of victory lifted Munster into second place, ahead of Ulster on points difference. "It keeps us in the hunt for a top-four place" said Munster's head coach, Anthony Foley.
“It was important for us today with Ulster, Glasgow and Ospreys all getting five points. Getting the extra point was not something we had planned. But we’ll take it and I think our second-half performance deserved it.
“We want to maintain top form. I know people talk about a home semi-final. But at the moment, we just want to make sure we’re in the top four.”
Munster built their victory on strong defence, skill in the use of the driving maul and the ability to exploit Edinburgh's plight after the Scotland wing Tim Visser was sent to the sin-bin.
The return of their international players proved key too, with Conor Murray, who was named as man-of-the-match, giving a compelling display of all-round ability. Hooker Duncan Casey also pointed to Munster's non-involvement in the later stages of European rugby.
Extra time
“Luckily or unluckily we haven’t had European rugby to worry about over the past month so it’s given us extra time to prepare for these league games.
“We’ve put a focus on keeping our defence as strong as we can,” he said.
Munster thwarted Edinburgh's early ambitions and were 10-3 ahead at the break courtesy of a penalty by Ian Keatley and the outside half's conversion of a rolling maul try for Casey.
Another rolling maul resulted in a second try for backrow CJ Stander before the the game reached its turning point with the yellow card for Visser.
Murray immediately took advantage with a blindside try that was converted by Keatley, before Simon Zebo made the extra man tell with a try of his own.
Then with Visser still watching from the sidelines, Keith Earls touched down from a Denis Hurley grubber kick, with Keatley's conversion adding the final touch to an impressive win.
