Munster proved once again that their Rugby World Cup absences are no obstacle to a table topping performance on their visit to Cardiff Blues at Cardiff City Stadium as they came away with a 13-18 victory.
Tony McGahan's men seemed to go into the clash on the back foot, Blues dominating up until Alex Cuthbert became the first man to score a try against Munster this season early in the second half.
The hosts looked set to run away with the victory as they ground their way through phase after phase and turned the meeting into a war of attrition.
Eventually, composure was key and as Cardiff's discipline became the first casualty of frayed nerves, Ian Keatley kept his own composure to capitalise on every punishable error.
The Blues far from made it an easy task for the visitors, and they found themselves chasing down deserved Man of the Match Alex Cuthbert to prevent two additional tries either side of his successful attempt.
This has been Munster's closest match yet, which should give the hosts some hope going forward. This was far from the clumsy side that had faced Ulster a week before, in fact had Ceri Sweeny been having a better day at the kicking tee the score line would have been tipped the other way.
Final Score Cardiff Blues 13 (3) Munster (12) 18
Scorers
Cardiff Blues
Tries: Cuthbert
Con: Sweeney
Pen : Sweeney (2)
Munster Pen : Keatley (6)
Att: 5,466
