Pro14: Munster into semi-finals after thrashing 13-man Connacht in 49-12 win

Munster ran riot with three tries in four second half minutes

Munster will meet Leinster in a Pro14 semi-final next weekend having booked their last four place with a thumping win over 13-man Connacht.

Chris Cloete's early score and a penalty try sent Munster on their way before Connacht forwards Abraham Papali'i and Shane Delahunt saw red in a wild first half.

Bundee Aki and Jonny Murphy put Connacht on the board but tries from Jeremy Loughman, Tadhg Beirne, James Cronin and two from Andrew Conway saw Munster cruise to victory.

Johann van Graan's side will now meet Conference A winners Leinster on Friday in Dublin, with Ulster travelling to Murrayfield to meet Edinburgh in the other semi-final on Saturday evening.

Munster came into the game knowing that any win would be enough to see them leapfrog Scarlets into second place in Conference B, and their cause was aided by a first half of rampant indiscipline from Connacht who saw Conor Oliver sent to the sin-bin after seven minutes.

Cloete opened the scoring off a driving maul a minute later before a collapsed scrum saw the referee run underneath the posts to double Munster's advantage to 14-0 after 14 minutes.

Already behind, Connacht's self-implosion was complete before half-time as first debutant Papali'i was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Conor Murray before Delahunt was shown red 10 minutes later for an elbow to the neck of CJ Stander.

Connacht's indiscipline helped Munster romp to victory

Prop Loughman added a third try from close range before Peter O'Mahony and Beirne were yellow carded as Munster were temporarily reduced to 13 in a crazy first half, allowing Aki to crash over just before the break.

However after the interval Connacht's numerical disadvantage saw holes appear in their defence as Beirne secured the bonus-point before a pair of well-worked Conway tries in the space of two minutes put a chasm between the sides.

Replacement prop Cronin crossed from a rolling maul before Murphy added a late consolation score for Connacht.

Munster: Daly; Conway, Farrell, de Allende, Earls; Hanrahan, Murray; Loughman, N Scannell, Ryan; Wycherley, Beirne; O'Mahony (capt), Cloete, Stander.

Replacements: O'Byrne, O'Connor, Archer, Holland, O'Donoghue, Casey, R Scannell, O'Sullivan.

Connacht: O'Halloran; de Buitlear, Arnold, Daly, Kilgallen; Fitzgerald, Blade; McAllister, Delahunt, Robertson-McCoy; Murray, Roux (capt); Masterson, Oliver, Papali'i.

Replacements: Murphy, Kenny, Burke, Dillane, Masterson, Kerins, Aki, Dean.