Pro14: Munster score six tries in 45-21 rout of Cardiff Blues

CJ Stander scored for Munster just five minutes after his introduction off the bench

Munster stepped up their pursuit of the top spot in Conference A of the Pro14 with a six-try win over Cardiff Blues.

Chris Farrell, Jean Kleyn, CJ Stander, Conor Murray, Andrew Conway and Sammy Arnold all scored to keep Munster three points adrift of leaders Glasgow.

Cardiff pushed for a try bonus but, in a blow to their play-off prospects, they left Cork empty-handed.

Tries by Tomos Williams, Rey Lee-Lo and Aled Summerhill were little consolation for the Blues, who remain in fourth.

Only three points separated the two sides after a thrilling opening half at Irish Independent Park but Munster pulled clear after the restart to guarantee a play-off berth and the hosts chose to finish the game with just 14 men when captain Peter O'Mahony was taken off with an injury.

The Blues will return to Ireland next week when they travel to Galway to take on their play-off rivals Connacht in a must-win match for John Mulvihill's side.

Munster edge a tight opening half

Munster's forwards won an early scrum penalty but Blyendaal's long-range miss was a demonstration of the blustery conditions that both sides had to contend with and it was the Blues' slick handling that produced the opening score.

Gareth Anscombe's cleverly disguised pass sent Lee-Lo slicing through a gap and the centre found the supporting Tomos Williams, who had the pace to beat the Munster covering tacklers to the line.

Tyler Bleyendaal put Munster on the scoreboard with a penalty just moments later after and the home side then went hunting for their first try of the game.

Munster's Conor Murray had to leave the field for a HIA during the first half

A choke tackle by Anscombe stopped a rampaging Kevin O'Byrne just metres from the Blues' line but from the resulting scrum the visitors lost possession and Munster sent Farrell crashing over at the base of the posts.

The Irish province increased their advantage in the 29th minute when the decision to kick into the corner resulted in Kleyn shunting two defenders backwards on his way over the line.

The visitors continued to look dangerous with ball in hand as Lee-Lo nearly sent Summerhill clear along the left touchline and Owen Lane was just unable to hold onto Anscombe's cross-field kick on the opposite wing.

As half time approached, the Blues produced a flowing backline move with Matthew Morgan creating the overlap for a superb Summerhill try and Anscombe's conversion left just one score between the sides.

Three tries in 16-minute spree

Buoyed by their finish to the opening half, the Blues charged into the lead shortly after the restart when Tomos Williams took a quick tap penalty and Lee-Lo dived over from close range for an easy score.

Munster's reply was both prompt and ruthless as a line-out maul set them marching into opposition territory before Bleyendaal cleverly switched the point of attack and Stander barrelled through an enormous gap in the Blues' defence.

The bonus-point try arrived just after the hour when Murray showed quick thinking to tap the ball down on the line after the Blues thought they had held up a charging Dave Kilcoyne.

Tomos Williams scored one try and created another for Cardiff Blues

A brilliant piece of counter rucking by Tadhg Beirne and Chris Cloete set up another score for Conway in the corner as Munster came from four points down to lead by 17 in a stunning 16-minute spell.

The Blues went in search of a try that would secure a consolation point but O'Mahony produced a muscular turnover under his own posts to stop their momentum and Munster finished the game on the attack with JJ Hanrahan's slaloming break setting up Arnold for the final score.

Munster going in the right direction

Munster captain Peter O'Mahony on TG4: "Cardiff's attack is certainly one of the best in the league and I've very happy with the way our defence held up bar two or three times. In the first couple of phases they put us under some big pressure and scored some lovely tries but as a whole I thought it was a very pleasing performance."

"We'll have a good look at our performances and we're going to have to keep building and getting better with the teams we're coming up against over the next fortnight we'll probably have to be better than we've ever been as a squad but we're certainly going in the right direction."

Mulvihill's hopes

Blues boss John Mulvihill says their play-off hopes depend on them winning remaining games against Connacht and Ospreys while hoping the Irish province slip up against Zebre, on Saturday, and Munster in the weeks ahead.

He said: "We'll probably all sit in front of the TV and pray for a Zebre win [against Connacht] , but regardless of what happens there it comes down to a grand final - two really big weeks with Connacht and then [if] we get a good win there, we have to beat the Ospreys and hope Munster do us a favour against Connacht.

"So it's taken out of our hands a little bit and next week is the decider, really."

Munster: Haley, Conway, Farrell, R Scannell, Sweetnam; Bleyendaal, Murray; Kilcoyne, O'Byrne, Ryan, Kleyn, Holland, O'Mahony (capt), Cloete, Botha.

Replacements: N Scannell, Loughman, Archer, Beirne, Stander, Mathewson, Hanrahan, Arnold.

Cardiff Blues: Morgan, Lane, Lee-Lo, Halaholo, Summerhill; Anscombe, T Williams; Gill, Dacey (capt), D Lewis, Davies, Thornton, Lewis-Hughes, Robinson, Turnbull.

Replacements: E Lewis, Thyer, Assiratti, Earle, Botham, L Williams, Smith, Millard.

Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR)

Assistant referees: Andrea Piardi (FIR), Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)

TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)