Munster get off to a blistering start, Danny Barnes charging down an attempted clearance and touching down in the right corner for the province’s first try.

O’Gara slots the conversion to get Munster off to the perfect start.

Treviso 0-7 Munster

A couple of formalities still to get out of the way:

Munster: Hurley, Murphy, Barnes, Mafi, Zebo, O’Gara, O’Leary; Du Preez, Varley, Botha, Ryan, O’Driscoll (c), O’Callaghan, O’Mahony, Coughlan.

Treviso: Nitoglia, Iannone, Galon, Sgarbi, Williams, De Waal, Semenzato; Muccignat, Sbaraglini, Di Santo, Pavanello (c), Van Zyl, Derbyshire, Vermaak, Filippucci.

Blimey, Munster are over again! A beautifully-timed kick-chase from Danny Barnes on the left wing forces the Treviso defence onto the back foot. Claiming possession, the wing ducks inside and feeds Zebo who carries the ball and two defenders over the line. The referee sends the decision upstairs, but… he needn’t have. It’s a try.

O’Gara loops a fine conversion over the bar from the left wing.

Treviso 0-14 Munster

This depleted Treviso side looks to be in distress. They’re a mass of wide eyes, panicked offloads and unforced errors right now. As if to underscore my point, Semenzato belts his second successive box kick straight into touch.

Munster are awarded a penalty when Vermaak slings an arm across the neck of Johnny Barnes. The crowd give the referee a healthy boo-ing, but in truth, the flanker’s lucky to remain on the pitch.

Looking decidedly nonchalant, O’Gara sends the ball sailing between the posts.

Treviso 0-17 Munster

DiSanto is penalised for failing to bind at the scrum. O’Leary takes the quick tap and sends Munster careening into the Italians’ half.

A grubber kick through gifts possession to Treviso, but Williams and Iannone make the simple business of clearing to touch look exceedingly difficult…

Another try for Munster! A nice break from O’Callaghan on the left wing (not a typo) sends Munster surging into the Italian half. The ball finds its way to Simon Zebo, but the centre slips as he’s about to feed Murphy for a certain try. Treviso fail to recover their equilibrium, though, and look stunned when O’Leary sends the next phase back across the field. Sensing confusion, O’Gara slips a kick for Murphy through the line. A favourable bounce sends Murphy over for the third try of the afternoon.

O’Gara O’Garas another kick.

Treviso 0-24 Munster

De Waal sends Treviso’s restart out on the full. The humiliation continues…

Chastened by the boos of the home supporters, De Waal spurns a certain three points and opts to kick for the corner.

After rising to claim the resulting lineout, the Treviso pack drives for the line. They think they’re there, and the home support erupts, but party-pooper-in-chief Neil Hennessy begs to differ. Play devolves into a incoherent tangle of limbs and Treviso are awarded a scrum.

A lengthy series of scrum resets leaves Munster on the verge of conceding a penalty try…

Like the UN, Hennessy is unwilling to intervene with anything other than some strong words. His decision to oversee another reset is met by boos.

A final, orthodox effort from Munster at the scrum forces Filippucci to rise pop a pass to Semenzato. Unwilling to risk a loss of possession, the scrum-half initiates a wave of pick-and-gos, probing the face of the Munster line.

The result is another defensive scrum, this time just inside the left touchline. Immediately under pressure, Munster are penalised for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. A card can’t be far away.

Cheerio, Mick O’Driscoll!

The Munster captain will spend the next ten minutes on the naughty step after infringing at the breakdown. The cumulative weight of his pack’s recent misdeeds is to blame.

Try for Treviso! Capitalising on his side’s set-piece dominance – and mounting anxiety within the Munster ranks – Semenzato bursts from the back of yet another reset scrum and, like a lubed eel, bobs and weaves his way over the line.

The conversion is a formality… even for De Waal.

Treviso 7-24 Munster

Half-time:

Treviso 7-24 Munster

Tries galore, running rugby: what more could you want, woman?

We’re back underway, and within seconds, Treviso signal their intention to begin the second half as they ended the first.

A weighted kick over the top sends Munster scrambling to clear their lines…

The result is a Treviso lineout, that Sbaraglini promptly wastes by spinning his delivery wide.

Varley’s delivery is more exact, and O’Leary sends Munster charging diagonally across  the field.

Munster are down to 13! Their forward momentum in midfield having dissipated, O’Gara drives a kick that sends the Treviso three-quarters backwards rolling backwards. Simon Zebo makes a lunge at the ball, but fails to claim possession. Frustrated, the centre slaps the ball out of the air as he files back onside. Neil Hennessy has no hesitation in issuing a card.

Try for Treviso! Determined to stretch expose their opponents, Treviso send Williams arcing across the face of the Munster line. He’s brought to ground in the right corner, but Van Zyl is over seconds later.

De Waal makes the conversion.

Treviso 14-24 Munster

Munster are granted something of a reprieve when O’Gara is offered another attempt on goal. Untroubled, he sends an effort soaring over the bar.

Treviso 14-27 Munster

Some Italian indiscipline leaves O’Gara contemplating an attempt from just inside the right touchline.

He rolls through his routine and, with the swing of a boot, preserves his 100% record.

Treviso 14-30 Munster

My ice-cold, refreshing beverage just exploded all over my workstation… unperturbed by this development, Treviso claim a Munster lineout and spin possession left-to-right across the field.

Marcus Horan and Duncan Williams have joined the fray in place of Du Preez and Hurley.

The substitute Williams immediately makes a difference and succeeds, alongside Barnes, in executing a choke tackle that forces Treviso to concede a penalty.

O’Gara pings the ball into touch on the left wing and looks on as his pack secure possession at the lineout…

An Italian touch-judge seizes spotlight and strides forward to recommend the referee penalise Peter O’Mahony. He doesn’t sound too sure about the nature of the infringement, but replays reveal him to be guilty of dragging someone out of a maul.

Much ado about nothing. Mick O’Driscoll looks bemused.

Lingering on the right edge of the Treviso  line, Danny Williams reads Barnes’ mind and charges forward to claim an interception. He has oodles of pace, but Munster have numbers in reserve and, shuttling back across the field, force the wing to check his run.

A moment of complacency from the Irish.

Archer and Holland replace Botha and O’Driscoll. Just like that.

True story.

After punting a penalty deep into the Munster 22, another unforced error – a crooked lineout delivery, don’t you know – costs Treviso.

Munster rove forward in search of the bonus point.

[meanwhile: Deasy trots on to replace O'Gara]

Felix Jones surges clear on the right wing, but he’s soon isolated and swarmed by Italians. The result is another turnover in possession.

Munster are over for the bonus point! The province use a scrum in midfield as an offensive platform, spinning the ball wide to Zebo, who sidesteps a defender a blazes clear on the left wing. Some canny variations in pace send the 21-year-old diving over for his fourth RaboDirect Pro 12 try of the season.

Deasy’s conversion attempt sails wide, but who cares: the cat, in the shape of a tasty bonus point, is in the sack.

Treviso 14-35 Munster

Full-time:

Treviso 14-35 Munster

Early panic from Treviso gifted the province a hat-trick of first-half tries, but indiscipline, in the form of two sin-binnings, and some ponderous lateral passing hindered their efforts in the second half.

The dynamism of Barnes, Zebo and O’Mahony bodes well for the future, but in truth, Munster should have secured a winning bonus point long in advance of the 76-minute mark.