In terms of possession and territory, the Scots were on level terms – but the visitors had the dge when it came to turning pressure into points which kept alive their Celtic League title dream.

Munster proved straight away there was no Heineken Cup hangover as they surged ahead after less than two minutes.

Hooker Denis Fogarty displayed his power to brush off two challenges before flopping over the line from close range, giving Jeremy Manning a simple conversion.

Reivers’ hopes of breaking their duck immediately were dashed when Calum MacRae watched his penalty attempt crash back off the post.

He had better luck, however, with his next crack at goal when the visiting backline crept offside.

The Munstermen replied in positive fashion with Manning slotting a 35-metre penalty awarded for obstruction.

It was all action and plenty more points in the build-up to the interval. MacRae bagged three more for the Borders – only for Munster to shock the home fans with two more tries in quick succession.

First, Fogarty completed his double when he was propelled across the line by his pack-mates in the aftermath of a line-out.

Then former All Blacks superstar Christian Cullen marked his comeback from injury with an opportunist score following great work by Mike Mullins.

Manning added both goals, but the Reivers kept their hopes alive when full-back Stuart Moffat slid in after taking a feed from Nikky Walker. MacRae converted.

There was still enough time for Manning to keep up his fine record with the boot by clipping over another penalty.

Simon Danielli gave Borders fresh hope with a 45-metre touchdown three minutes after the restart.

But any prospects of a fightback were dashed when David Wallace and Ian Dowling bagged further tries for Munster – both goaled by high profile substitute Ronan O’Gara.

Borders had the last word when James King sneaked over, with MacRae converting.