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Peter O'Mahony carried well for Munster throughout. Billy Stickland/INPHO

Munster did Connacht a massive favour in the Pro12 tonight

Munster’s big win in Edinburgh keeps Connacht in sixth in the Pro12 table.

A CLINICAL SECOND half of running rugby saw Munster move a step closer to a home semi-final after a 34-3 bonus point with over Edinburgh at Murrayfield.

After a half an hour you wouldn’t have guessed the final scoreline as the game was tied at 3-3 and both sides were struggling to execute in attack.

But a Duncan Casey try on the back of a powerful Munster maul gave the visitors a 10-3 lead at the break and that seemed to kick-start their charge as they came out in the second half in a far more efficient manner.

Edinburgh opened the scoring after Munster were penalised for a no arms tackle and Tom Heatcote slotted the straightforward penalty. Munster had a few chances to put the home side under pressure but a few sloppy errors in the opposition 22 prevented them from capitalising.

One overthrown lineout and another bit of indiscipline which saw Munster penalised while their maul was rumbling towards the line were two such instances.

However, midway through the half an Edinburgh forward was penalised for offside and Keatley levelled from the tee.

Encouragingly for Munster, when they put width on the ball early on, they troubled Edinburgh. Tommy O’Donnell and Peter O’Mahony were typically busy in the loose and led the Munster charge admirably before Casey’s five-pointer.

Munster cut down on their error count significantly after the break and were far more careful in possession thereafter, especially when in attack. CJ Stander and Conor Murray both crossed from close-range before the TMO awarded Simon Zebo a very questionable score.

The wing didn’t seem to get the required pressure on the ball after chasing a grubber kick but the official thought otherwise. Keith Earls put a further shine on the scoreline when he picked up an Edinburgh fumble yards from the line and dived over for an easy score to extend Munster’s lead to 31 points.

With three games to go, here’s what Connacht have to do to qualify for the Champions Cup

One of rugby’s most potent poachers gave an absolute masterclass in Super Rugby yesterday

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    Mute Chris Mcdonnell
    Favourite Chris Mcdonnell
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    May 18th 2015, 2:32 PM

    Even when on the bench he didn’t get game time. The coach doesn’t like or trust him. Saturday once again showed just how wrong O’connor has been all season

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    Mute Colin Webber
    Favourite Colin Webber
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    May 18th 2015, 6:24 PM

    O’Connor is just all wrong for Leinster.

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    Mute Mark Lawlor
    Favourite Mark Lawlor
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    May 18th 2015, 2:31 PM

    He has a very big chance next season with Leinster during the World Cup, midfield won’t be as competitive so he should get a good run of matches.

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    Mute Chris Mcdonnell
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    May 18th 2015, 6:56 PM

    Mark if Darcy doesn’t make the World Cup squad, he’ll play 12 with t’eo at 13. Then Madigan and sexton will be back so the midfield won’t be as easy to get into as you may think

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    Mute David Davidson
    Favourite David Davidson
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    May 18th 2015, 4:27 PM

    That pop pass from O’Brien

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    Mute Irish Underage Rugby
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    May 18th 2015, 2:54 PM

    Battle between him and Madigan for the 12 jersey next season.

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    Mute Cian Walker
    Favourite Cian Walker
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    May 19th 2015, 4:02 AM

    It’s always to easy to see who coaches ‘just like/don’t like’. When Gopperth played badly it was ignored whereas when Madigan played mediocre or even if Reid played well decisions went against them.

    It creates such a poisonous culture as some players start to feel entitled to spots and others feel it doesn’t matter how well they play they won’t get picked. Cody and Fergusson were masters at disregarding players identities and judging on match performance alone. MOC is such a stink manager.

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