Munster go top

With Leinster losing 29-38 to Scarlets on Friday, the five-point victory for Munster moves them a point ahead of their rivals and two ahead of Ospreys at the summit of the Pro12.

Andrew Conway scored two tries in the first half after Robin Copeland had crossed following a dominant Munster scrum to push them into the lead.

Second row Dan O'Shea, Ronan O'Mahony, two, and Alex Wootton added four second half tries.

Ian McKinley had given the Italians an early lead with a seventh-minute penalty after Treviso looked up for the battle during the first ten minutes before Tyler Bleyendaal pulled his side level after 14 minutes.

As the Munster pack began to get on top, the home side had their first try through No.8 Copeland after a strong scrum from five metres.

Man of the match Bleyendaal added the extras and created both the second and third try for his team as they took a commanding lead during the second half of the first period.

First, he chipped through for wing O'Mahony who got a boot onto the ball before Conway touched the ball down in the corner to extend the hosts' lead to 15-3.

Next, Bleyendaal hit a pinpoint cross-field kick from inside his own half, picking out O'Mahony brilliantly who burst away before giving Conway an easy run in under the posts.

Bleyendaal's second conversion moved Munster, who are unbeaten at Thomond Park since Christmas 2015, into a 22-3 lead they took into the break.

The home side secured the try bonus point just two minutes into the second half as Bleyendaal popped to the ball off to a charging O'Shea who burst through for his first Munster try.

The home side's defence came under increased pressure but a quick counter attack saw the Munster grab their fifth try. Another driving maul got them close before the ball was spread to O'Mahony to cross.

Replacement Wootton added the sixth after beating his man and touching down under the posts with Ian Keatley's conversion making the score 41-3.

A training ground move from Munster pack gave them their seventh try, and O'Mahony's second, as Copeland went to the blindside from the tail of the line out to create a two on one which the hosts converted.

The scorers:

For Munster:

Tries: Copeland, Conway 2, O'Shea, O'Mahony 2, Wootton

Cons: Bleyendaal 3, Keatley

Pen: Bleyendaal

For: Treviso

Pen: McKinley

Teams:

Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Ronan O’Mahony, 10 Tyler Bleyendaal,9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Tommy O’Donnell (captain), 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Darren O’Shea, 4 Dave Foley, 3 John Ryan, 2  Rhys Marshall, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.

Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 Billy Holland, 21 Angus Lloyd, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Alex Wootton.

Benetton Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Michael Tagicakibau, 13 Tommaso Iannone, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (captain), 11 Luca Sperandio, 10 Ian McKinley, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Marco Barbini, 7 Filippo Ferrarini, 6 Marco Lazzaroni, 5 Michael Van Vuren, 4 Filippo Gerosa, 3 Matteo Zanusso, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Alberto De Marchi.

Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Roberto Santamaria, 20 Federico Conforti, 21 Enrico Francescato, 22 Andrea Pratichetti, 23 David Odiete

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Oisin Quinn (Ireland)