Munster ease past Dragons with four-minute blitz

Diarmuid Kilgallen scored the first of Munster's six tries

United Rugby Championship

Dragons (0) 19

Tries: Colemen, Wilson, Blacker Cons: Evans, Reed

Munster (31) 38

Tries: Kilgallen, Kendellen, O'Connor, Penalty try, Bleuler, Hodnett Cons: Byrne 2

A staggering 21 points in the space of four minutes set Munster on course for an easy win at lowly Dragons.

Diarmuid Kilgallen crossed early before a stunning blitz of scores from Alex Kendellen, Ben O'Connor and a penalty try

Prop Dian Bleuler barged over to give Munster a 31-0 half-time lead.

Chris Coleman, Harry Wilson and Dane Blacker all scored second-half tries as Dragons somehow went close to a bonus point.

But the final score barely reflected the one-sided nature of this game that saw Munster climb to seventh in the United Rugby Championship.

Munster are back in play-off contention while Dragons remain without a league win since the opening weekend of the season.

But this battle between two interim coaches could not have highlighted more the stark and widening contrast between these clubs - and perhaps Irish and Welsh regional rugby.

Dismal Dragons

A ninth successive win for Munster against Welsh opposition was still only their second away success of the season and first outside of Ireland.

But rarely have they had it this easy.

After last week's record European loss at Lions, the first-half display was about as poor as these long-suffering Dragons fans have endured here at Rodney Parade.

Everything that could go wrong did so for the hosts.

They lost forwards Taine Basham and Rodrigo Martinez to early injuries, conceded four tries and had Lloyd Evans sin-binned - all inside just 20 minutes.

The reality was that the game was all over as a contest for the crowd of 4,560 after just a quarter of the match.

Munster changed six players from last week's loss at Northampton yet ran amok, especially back-row pair Kendellen and Gavin Coombes.

Dragons made just two changes but the brutal reality is they are failing to physically match teams, not least among the backs.

The effort of the likes of centre and captain Aneurin Owen is beyond doubt but their three-quarters were out-gunned as Munster constantly found mis-matches.

Lock Tom Ahern's break, after Lloyd Evans' missed touch, handed Kilgallen an easy finish after just three minutes.

Number eight Coombes was inches short of a score but bounced off a tackle for Kendellen to score.

Munster then scored from successive restarts in a remarkable flurry during which they were almost toying with their hosts.

Shane Daly easily beat Jared Rosser for O'Connor to score on his first start before the wing earned a penalty try after being tackled high by Evans close to the line.

Hooker Brodie Coughlan was a rare bright light for Dragons while the likes of Rio Dyer were largely spectators as even basic skills eluded this young team.

When Coleman finally scored Dragons' first points even the PA announcer was so used to the one-way traffic that he read out the name of the prop's opposite number by accident.

But Dragons did manage a second-half revival of sorts that owed much to injuries disrupting Munster who could also be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas.

What the coaches said

Interim Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia said: "Munster played very well in attack but defensively we were poor in the first half.

"We made adjustments at half-time and when we got things right we were able to control the momentum.

"The lads never gave up right to the end but defensively there are things I can take responsibility for and that we need to sort out."

Interim Munster head coach Ian Costello said: "That was probably the best 40 minutes we've had this season.

"All the elements came together so we had continuity, flow and threats all over the pitch.

"I've never known so much disruption in the second half with injuries and three HIAs but now we've ended the block on form and aiming for the play-offs."

Dragons: Huw Anderson; Rio Dyer, Aneurin Owen (capt), Harri Ackerman, Jared Rosser; Lloyd Evans, Morgan Lloyd; Rodrigo Martinez, Brodie Coghlan, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, Ryan Woodman, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Dan Lydiate, Taine Basham

Replacements: James Benjamin, Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Paula Latu, Barny Langton-Cryer, George Young, Dane Blacker, Will Reed, Harry Wilson

Sin bin: Evans (20)

Munster: Ben O'Connor; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; Billy Burns, Ethan Coughlan; Dian Bleuler, Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern; Jack O'Donoghue (capt), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes

Replacements: Danny Sheahan, Kieran Ryan, John Ryan, Evan O'Connell, Brian Gleeson, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, John Hodnett

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)

Assistant referees: Ben Connor & Matthew Leon (WRU)

TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)