Munster 9; Border Reivers 7: Hairy, and much too scary for Munster's comfort. The little Borders, without any away Celtic League win to their name to date, came within a whisker of ending Munster's 18-month unbeaten home record in all competitions.
On the back foot for much of the first half, in control for much of the second and edged in front with the help of an exciting cameo by UCC's 19-year-old Kiwi outhalf Jeremy Manning, a tryless Munster lacked their usual killer instinct.
When Rob Henderson took his eye off the ball under the posts before kicking for the line, Gregor Townsend moved into the pocket even before the scrum was set. Incredibly, his pack over- elaborated from a pick-up, knocked on another pick-up and, no less than Townsend, coach Steve Bates was left shaking his head in disbelief on the sidelines.
Coach Declan Kidney admitted Munster had ridden their luck. "We were fairly one-paced from start to finish and that wouldn't suit us. We're under no illusions as to the work ahead of us, and we'll have to play an awful lot better against the Ospreys next week (in Cork next Saturday)."
Munster also lacked hard yards close in to set up quick ball, although there was some encouragement in the lineout and restart work of Mick O'Driscoll on his return, as well as strong running from Trevor Halstead initially.
There was a typical early-season feel to an initially sunny evening in Limerick. Aside from the customary plethora of handling mistakes, what continuity there was usually saw each side probe through the phases diligently, at times ponderously, with little in the way of line-breaks.
A buzz of encouragement and anticipation did permeate the ground whenever David Wallace had the ball in his hands. The Munster cognoscenti know the lad can run with the ball no matter where you play him.
Two minutes in, Townsend delicately kicked turnover ball in behind him. Wallace gathered, turned and, none too surprisingly, never countenanced kicking the ball as he eluded three men by running in-field and brushed through another to run it back from inside his own 22 to almost halfway.
There would be another vocally encouraged counter-attack from a high catch by Wallace toward the end of the half, but he hardly saw it thereafter, and not once from an orthodox move across the line, while his positional sense and kicking game weren't really tested.
The force gradually ebbed towards the Borders, in part thanks to the greater, wind-assisted distance Townsend was achieving compared to Burke. John Kelly had to be alive to a blindside kick and chase from a turnover by Chris Cusiter, a constant threat throughout.
Soon after the Borders had their reward when they went wide from left to right off a scrum and probed through the middle for Townsend to eye the Munster props, Marcus Horan and Federico Pucciarello, and slip through them for a try under the posts.
As is customary hereabouts, that served to get Munster's dander up, O'Driscoll earning a penalty from Burke's restart with a superb catch and the latter opened their counter. Rejecting another easier attempt at goal, a couple of lineout drives were held up and a multi-phase attack ended with Cusiter covering Anthony Foley's chip through.
Burke pulled Munster to within a point shortly after the interval but after exchanging misses with Charlie Hore, he was replaced by the Manning. With the Borders' scrum buckling, Manning pushed Munster in front for the first time with his first touch. Furthermore now it was Shaun Payne, with a monstrous 80 metre kick, and Manning, with his second touch, who were gaining distance.
Manning then turned Garry Law inside out to spark Munster further into life before Denis Leamy made one of the night's few clean incisions when bursting on to Manning's pass. Without support, he checked and was engulfed when perhaps he should have pinned his ears back.
Reprieved, the Borders came back downfield and even after their fluffed drop-goal opportunity, it required stiff midfield resistance by Henderson and John Kelly, a lineout steal by O'Driscoll and a third touchfinder by Manning to see Munster home.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 34 mins: Townsend try, Hore con 0-7; 36: Burke pen 3-7; (half-time 3-7); 44: Burke pen 6-7; 64: Manning pen 9-7.
MUNSTER: S Payne; D Wallace, T Halstead, R Henderson, J Kelly; P Burke, P Stringer; M Horan, J Flannery, F Pucciariello, T Hogan, M O'Driscoll, S Keogh, D Leamy, A Foley (capt). Replacements: F Sheahan for Flannery, A Quinlan for Keogh (both 50 mins), J Dalziel for Gray (61 mins), J Manning for Burke (63 mins).
BORDER REIVERS: S Moffat; S Danielli, B MacDougall, C Hore, G Law; G Townsend, C Cusiter; P Thomson (capt), R Ford, B Douglas; O Palepoi, C Stewart; W McEntee, S Gray, K Brown. Replacements: A Miller for McEntee (55 mins), J Dalziel for Gray (61 mins), S Scott for Thomson, T McGee for Ford (both 69 mins), A Rennick for Strewart (73 mins).
Referee: Tim Hayes (WRU).
