Magners League: Munster 22-10 Ospreys

Munster (3) 22
Try: Howlett Con: O'Gara Pens: O'Gara 5

Ospreys (0) 10
Tries: Bowe, Fussell

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Shane Williams tackles Johne Murphy at Thomond Park

Munster moved to the top of the Magners League table with a 12-point win over champions Ospreys at Thomond Park.

Ronan O'Gara scored the only points of the first half with a penalty.

Doug Howlett scored a second-half try for the 2009 champions, with Ronan O'Gara adding the conversion and kicking four further penalties.

Tommy Bowe and Richard Fussell touched down for tries for the visitors but Dan Biggar was off-target with both his conversion attempts.

Alan Quinlan led Munster onto the field as he made his 200th appearance for the Irish province but an uninspiring first half followed.

Paul Warwick and O'Gara, an early replacement for Ian Dowling, missed with penalty efforts in the opening 10 minutes.

Munster played most of the attacking rugby, trying to keep the ball in hand, but O'Gara could not convert possession into points as his penalty from near the halfway line fell just short.

The Irish fly-half made no mistake with his next kick from in front of the posts to make it 3-0 at the interval.

Man-of-the-match Doug Howlett completed a flowing move by touching down in the corner for the opening try of the game two minutes after half-time, with O'Gara converting.

Shane Williams offloaded the ball to Bowe, who showed scorching pace to score in the corner and reduce his side's deficit to five points.

Biggar was unable to add the conversion and then O'Gara missed with a penalty, but made amends by kicking four further penalties before the end of the game.

Ospreys were reduced to 14 men when Marty Holah was yellow-carded in the 55th minute after persistent infringements by the Welsh side.

Fussell's try five minutes before full-time was scant consolation for the out-of-sorts champions.

The match failed to reach the heights expected from two of the tournament's likely title contenders.

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Munster: Felix Jones; Doug Howlett, Johne Murphy, Sam Tuitupou, Ian Dowling; Paul Warwick, Tomas O'Leary; Marcus Horan, Denis Fogarty, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan, Alan Quinlan, Niall Ronan, James Coughlan.
Replacements: Damien Varley for Fogarty (29), Wian du Preez for Horan (50), Tony Buckley for Hayes (40), Billy Holland for Quinlan (69), Peter O'Mahony (for Coughlan (69), Peter Stringer for O'Leary (78), Ronan O'Gara for Dowling (4), Danny Barnes for Jones (74).

Ospreys: Lee Byrne; Nikki Walker, Tommy Bowe, Andrew Bishop, Shane Williams; Dan Biggar, Jamie Nutbrown; Paul James, Mefin Davies, Craig Mitchell, Alun Wyn Jones (capt, Ian Evans, Jerry Collins, Marty Holah, Jonathan Thomas.
Replacements: Richard Hibbard for M Davies (48), Duncan Jones (for James 60), Adam Jones for Mitchell (48), Ian Gough (for Evans 33), Ben Lewis for Holah (67), Rhys Webb (for Nuttbrown 58), Gareth Owen (for Byrne (67), Richard Fussell (for Walker 67).

Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU)

Attendance: 21,000