VISITORS Leinster squeezed past Munster, 13-8, in a fierce battle for supremacy in Saturday night’s URC outing at a packed (26,000) Thomond Park.
It was revenge for Leo Cullen’s side following an earlier competition reversal at Croke Park.
Josh van der Flier nipped in for an early Leinster try, converted by Harry Byrne.
In the second half, Byrne and Jack Crowley swapped some penalties (3-13).
An unconverted five-pointer by Dan Kelly set up an exciting finale, but Munster couldn’t close the gap on the champions.
Still, the outing earned a losing bonus point for Clayton McMillan’s outfit.
The fixture was noteworthy for a 250th appearance with Munster by John Ryan.
In his post-match interview, McMillan clearly wasn’t impressed with the officiating of the fixture.
“There were a couple of occasions where we needed to be better in our ball presentation,” he said.
“But there were times, I think where men were swimming around the corners of rucks, something that was brought to the officials’ attention pre-game. We knew it was going to be a contest at the breakdown. A big song and dance was made about that being ruled out of the game at the beginning of the season. It doesn’t seem like it’s being reffed.
“But you don’t deal with what you’re dealing with on the day and we need to be better.”
He added: “I probably reiterate the fact that we need to be better in our own actions to make sure that that doesn’t become an issue for us.”
“It was disruptive but we knew it was going to be a contested breakdown. I think probably that area was the defining area in the game really.”
Next up for The Reds is a trip to Ulster on January 2.