Glasgow’s unbeaten run and stay at the top of the Rabodirect PRO12 was ended by Munster’s determined defensive effort and the one bit of inspiration on the pitch at Scotstoun.
JJ Hanrahan’s blunder cost Munster in the Heineken Cup at Edinburgh two weeks ago but the young fly-half was the difference between the sides on Friday night in the top two clash with a fine solo try just after half-time that proved the clincher.
The Warriors, looking surprisingly disjointed at times and not really stringing any phases together until a desperate charge in injury-time nearly brought an equalising score, paid dearly for not exploiting their first half control and for opting not to kick three simple penalties after they fell behind.
Munster replace the Warriors at the top of the PRO12 with one match remaining before the break for the November internationals.
The rain that had battered the country earlier in the day had abated by kick-off, but both sides played in the first half as if it was teeming down, with few back moves ending in anything but knock-ons and fumbles.
Perhaps it was the influence of late changes forced on both teams, Munster losing international pairing Paul O’Connell and Keith Earls prior to kick-off while Glasgow had to reshuffle their backs when Tommy Seymour pulled out.
Duncan Weir booted a long penalty after only two minutes but Hanrahan levelled from near halfway after 20 despite Munster having very little of the ball or territory.
The Irishmen’s scrummage was under severe pressure and a hand in a scrum in their own 22 gave Weir an easy chance to put Glasgow ahead again.
The best scoring chance came when Ryan Grant’s pass to DTH van der Merwe was judged forward after the Glasgow pack swarmed on the ball and won a turnover after a bomb from Weir, but Hanrahan reminded them Munster were still close with a dangerous run slipping three tacklers before the Glasgow defence regrouped.
The warning went unheeded as the second half began and the Munster fly-half was able to exploit a slip by van der Merwe in defence and score a fine solo try on a curving run past tacklers inside the 22, adding the touchline conversion.
The fly-half added a penalty within a minute of that score to take Munster into a strong position, but Glasgow came right back through a series of phases under the Munster posts and the visitors’ James Cronin was yellow carded for killing the ball.
However, Glasgow chose to scrummage the penalty and paid for it when they were penalised, Munster eventually playing out the sin-binning without any damage to their six-point lead.
Glasgow tried to get a spark off the introduction of Niko Matawalu but the Fijian twice tapped quick penalties when a cooler head might have opted for easy points to reduce the gap.
The home side’s scrummage advantage also vanished as referee Alan Davies lost patience and sin-binned both Dave Kilcoyne and Jon Welsh as Munster tried to kill the game.
Glasgow made a valiant attempt at pulling a draw out of the fire with a final charge in added time involving innumerable phases and three penalties, taking them from their own half to under the Munster posts, but the Irish defence held strong and forced a hurried pass into touch.