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Man of the Match CJ Stander celebrates his second try. ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
AS IT HAPPENED

As it happened: Munster v Glasgow Warriors, RaboDirect Pro12

As Munster and Glasgow go head to head, we’re going minute-by-minute.

We went live minute-by-minute as Munster took on Glasgow in the RaboDirect Pro 12.

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the game. E-mail steven@thescore.ie, tweet @thescore_ie, post a message to our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.

Result: Munster 31 – 3 Glasgow

There are just 15 minutes until kick-off in Thomond Park and both sides are welcoming back a host of internationals.

Teams are as follows:

Munster: F Jones; D Howlett (capt) K Earls, J Downey, S Zebo; R O’Gara, D Williams: D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, BJ Botha; D O’Callaghan, D Ryan; CJ Stander, T O’Donnell, J Coughlan.
Replacements: D Varley, W du Preez, S Archer, B Holland, P Butler, P Stringer, I Keatley, C Laulala.

Glasgow: P Murchie; S Lamont, S Hogg, P Horne, DTH van der Merwe; D Weir, H Pyrgos: R Grant, D Hall, M Cusack; T Swinson, A Kellock (capt), R Harley, J Barclay, R Wilson.
Replacements: P MacArthur, M Low, G Reid, J Strauss, J Eddie, N Matawalu, S Wight, B McGuigan.

Both teams come into this game on the back of defeats last week.

Glasgow’s loss to Leinster last weekend, in one of the worst games of professional rugby in living memory, put an end to a six-game winning streak.

Munster’s 13-6 reversal to the Scarlets was their first home defeat of the season and first loss in Cork since 2008.

Will returning to Limerick help Munster this evening? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

And Glasgow have kicked off in front of a, at best, half-full Thomond Park.

Duncan Weir’s kick goes straight into touch though and we’ve a scrum to Munster to really get the game going.

Munster fall behind to a Duncan Weir penalty after O’Callaghan is penalised for not rolling away.

It was a relatively straightforward kick for Weir but it just snuck in off the left upright.

TRY- Munster – CJ Stander – 10 mins

A wonderfully worked line-out from Munster results in a first Munster try for CJ Stander.

It was all created thanks to a brilliant break by Tommy O’Donnell that brought play right beneath the Glasgow posts.

O’Gara slots over the conversion with ease.

After some handbags in the middle of the park, referee Ian Davies calls in both captains to tell them he doesn’t care what caused the kerfuffle but he doesn’t want to see any more of it.

With 13 minutes gone it’s been a relatively open game with Munster playing some free flowing attacking rugby only to be let down my handling errors.

Duncan Williams is receiving some treatment now but he looks like he’s okay to carry on.

The TMO Dermot Moloney is taking his time over this decision but he has made the right decision saying ‘no try’.

DTH van der Merwe  looked to have just been brought into touch before touching down for the try.

Munster fans can breathe again.

Halfway through the first half and Munster have to be more than happy with their lot to this point.

Glasgow have come back into it more in the last five minutes or so but most of the attacking rugby is being played by the home-side.

A nice cross-field kick by Weir there looked threatening but Doug Howlett dealt with it very comfortably.

TRY – Munster – Tommy O’Donnell, 22 mins

Tommy O’Donnell is running some fabulous lines in this game, picking holes left, right and centre in the Glasgow defence and he’s rewarded with a fabulous individual try, handing off two would-be tacklers before sprinting under the posts.

Here’s the effort made by CJ Stander for his, and Munster’s, first try.

©INPHO/Cathal Noonan

Worryingly for Munster Tommy O’Donnell has received treatment and looks to be limping a bit.

However, he’s carrying on and is immediately involved in the next line-out.

Another well-worked Munster move ends in a handling error, this time from  Donnacha O’Callaghan.

PENALTY – Munster – O’Gara, 36 mins

O’Gara extends Munster’s lead to 14 points with a comfortable kick from outside the 22 after he won the penalty following an off-the-ball check from Mike Cusack.

TRY – Munster – CJ Stander, 38 mins

CJ Stander get’s his second and Munster’s third try of the game showing exceptional pace and, indeed, stamina for a back row.

Super stuff. O’Gara nails the conversion from the right touchline.

O’Gara gets the second half under way in Thomond.

Munster were very impressive in the first half, save a number of handling errors. However, they scored every time they threatened to and that sort of clinical form bodes well for their upcoming Heineken Cup fixtures.

Is there any way back for Glasgow? We’ve 40 minutes to find out.

BJ Botha receiving treatment for Munster now, as is Duncan Weir for the Warriors.

There didn’t look to be much in the Botha injury and, as I type, he’s getting back to his feet and looks set to continue.

Munster denied a try in the corner as Mike Sherry’s foot found touch before he could ground the ball in the corner.

That’s the first try scoring opportunity the home side have failed to convert today.

Tommy O’Donnell is helped off the field which is a great shame for Munster as he was putting in a Man of the Match performance.

Paddy Butler comes on to replace him.

51 minutes gone and Glasgow are threatening the Munster line for just the second time in the game.

Munster win their own line-out comfortably enough though and Duncan Williams’ boot gives them some breathing space.

Ryan Grant somewhat lucky not to receive a yellow card for Glasgow after refusing to roll away despite repeated warnings from the referee.

It’s been a very clean game actually with little in the way of stoppages other than for injuries.

The flow of the game is definitely being affected by mass substitutions.

The biggest cheer of the night is reserved for Peter Stringer as he comes on with just 20 minutes to play.

The pure joy on CJ Standers’ face as he scored his second try of the game is priceless:

©INPHO/Cathal Noonan

There has been a lot of messing around at the last couple of scrums with the Glasgow front row seemingly unhappy with how far away from Munster they’re being made to set up.

It’s really not helping the flow of the game which has switched from pulsating in the first half to a snail’s pace in the second.

TRY – Munster – Penalty Try, 74 mins

Munster are held up on the Glasgow line after yet another dominant line-out. The five-metre scrum collapses on the first, second and third attempts.

Munster opt for another scrum and are awarded a penalty try after a stray boot takes the ball away from Peter Stringer’s hands.

O’Gara probably couldn’t have missed the conversion had he tried.

MAN OF THE MATCH – With Tommy O’Donnell going off injured, CJ Stander was the obvious choice thanks to his two try performance.

And that’s it from Thomond Park where we saw a very comfortable win for Munster in the end.

The first half was by far the better of the two with Munster in particular playing some pulsating, attacking rugby.

Glasgow, for their part, never really looked like threatening the Irish side and have now scored a total of just three points to two RaboDirect Pro 12 games.

Well that’s it from our coverage of Munster’s win over Glasgow.

Now it’s your turn.

Do you think the win gives Munster a much needed boost ahead of the return of the Heineken Cup or does a win over a poor (on the night) Glasgow side prove nothing?

LIVE: Leinster v Zebre, RaboDirect Pro12

Third tier: Beale breaks Welsh hearts in last-gasp Wallabies win

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