Munster (27) 39
Tries: Coughlan, Varley, Wallace, Earls, Sherry Cons: O'Gara 4 Pens: O'Gara 2
Benetton Treviso (3) 13
Try: Nitoglia Con: Burton Pens: Burton 2

Damien Varley scores Munster's second try at Thomond Park

Munster maintained their position at the top of the Magners League by easily overcoming Benetton Treviso.

Converted tries from James Coughlan, Damien Varley and David Wallace helped the hosts lead 27-3 at half-time.

A Keith Earls try increased Munster's lead before Ludovico Nitoglia notched a Treviso touchdown to add to Chris Burton's eight points.

Mike Sherry scored a late Munster try while Ronan O'Gara notched 14 points in a 100% kicking return at Thomond Park.

O'Gara kicked Munster into a fourth-minute lead before Burton briefly restored parity with a well-struck penalty.

Munster responded with a series of forward drives into Treviso territory and the gamble of turning down a certain three points paid off when Peter Stringer released number eight Coughlan to score from close range.

The Treviso scrum was under pressure throughout the game and referee David Jones sin-binned props Franco Sbaraglini and Augusto Allori.

Varley scored Munster's second try during Sbaraglini's absence in the 20th minute and Wallace touched down a minute before the break as Allori watched from the sidelines.

Burton replied with his second penalty after the break but a Wallace charge set up Earls to score Munster's fourth try.

Munster prop Wian du Preez's sin-binning gave Treviso some respite and Brendan Williams' run and slick pass allowed Nitoglia to notch a fine try.

But normal service was resumed in injury-time when a reverse pass from Duncan Williams sent fellow replacement Sherry over for Munster's fifth try.

Munster: S Deasy; D Howlett, K Earls, J Murphy, D Hurley; R O'Gara, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, J Hayes; M O'Driscoll, D Ryan; A Quinlan, D Wallace, J Coughlan.

Replacements: M Sherry for Varley 54, Darragh Hurley du Preez 71, T Buckley for Hayes 64, D O'Callaghan for O'Driscoll 71, P O'Mahony for Quinlan 54, D Williams for Stringer 59, P Warwick for J Murphy 71, I Dineen for O'Gara 70.

Benetton Treviso: B Williams; L Nitoglia, E Galon, A Vilk, B De Jager; K Burton, F Semanzato; F Sbaraglini, L Ghiraldini, I Fernandez Rouyet; E Pavanello, V Bernabo; F Minto, B Vermaak, R Barbieri.

Replacements: A Allori for Sbaraglini 30, P Di Santo for Rouyet 52, A Pavanello for E Pavanello 46, M Filippucci for Minto 47, T Botes for Semenzato 59, S Picone for De Jager 46.
Not Used: E Ceccato, T Benvenuti

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