Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara once again stole the show for Munster on Saturday evening.

He notched up 16 points in front of a capacity crowd at The Stoop to sweep Munser to the top of Pool Four.

Harlequins' director of rugby John Kingston is refusing to be downbeat despite his side's defeat.

Kingston, who used to coach Connacht side Galwegians, insists Harlequins will learn from their mistakes to become a better side.

"At the end of the day we saw one streetwise side and one inexperienced side," said Kingston, whose team next take on French side Castres.

"It is a sad fact that we did not win. The team did not concentrate for the 80 minutes and for some reason we panicked.

"But we have learned a lot of lessons from this game and as I always say you have got to draw on these experiences to become a more battled, hardened side.

"Munster have got all the credentials necessary to go all the way. They are the Leicester's of Ireland.

"What we saw on Saturday was a typical Munster performance on the park.

"Sometimes they can lose their way like they did in the first 20 minutes, but then they will work hard, grind out the result and come out smelling of roses."

Penalised

Munster's first try came near half-time when O'Gara was on the end of a staunch attack from the Irish side.

Harlequins crumbled under pressure with full-back Mark Mapletoft spilling the ball.

Munster's scrum-half Peter Stringer made the most of it and kicked the ball forward onto the ground into O'Gara's path and his rolled over the line for the try.

O'Gara converted having previously already converted two successful penalties after Tu Tamaura and Keith Wood were penalised.

And O'Gara's form did not falter after the break either.

The fly-half, who is trying to withstand tremendous pressure from Ulster's hero David Humphresy for the Irish number 10 jersey, added a drop goal six minutes after the restart.

Quins however were not completely outclassed and proved that they are worthy competitors in the Heineken Cup since their promotion from the European Shield last season.

England and Lions star Dan Luger scored their only try with a 14th-minute effort.