Munster made a winning start to their Investec Champions Cup campaign with an emotional 33-25 victory over Racing 92 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night, on an occasion dedicated to the memory of former captain and head coach Anthony Foley.

Clayton McMillan’s side scored five tries in a hard-fought encounter, holding off a determined second-half comeback from the French visitors to secure a bonus-point victory.

The occasion carried particular significance as Munster paid tribute to Foley, with supporters taking part in a moving round of applause in the eighth minute.

It was Racing who opened the scoring through an Antoine Gibert penalty, but Munster responded with two tries inside the opening 12 minutes.

Brian Gleeson, wearing the number 24 jersey in honour of Foley, powered over from the back of a five-metre scrum to score Munster’s opening try.

Charlie O’Shea, making his European debut, converted to give the home side a 7-3 advantage.

Munster doubled their try tally shortly afterwards when Shay McCarthy showed his pace to finish in the corner, with O’Shea adding another excellent conversion.

Racing reduced the deficit through a second Gibert penalty, leaving Munster 14-6 ahead at half-time.

The home side made a strong start to the second period, with captain Tadhg Beirne crossing for their third try following a series of powerful carries from the Munster forwards.

O’Shea converted to stretch the lead to 21-6, but Racing refused to go away.

Wilfried Hulleu crossed for the French side before a converted try from a rolling maul brought the visitors back to within three points.

Munster responded through replacement Fineen Wycherley, who raced onto a perfectly timed pass from Craig Casey to secure the bonus-point try.

JJ Hanrahan added the conversion to restore a ten-point advantage at 28-18.

However, Racing struck again through Joey Manu, with Gibert converting to leave just three points between the teams heading into the closing stages.

The visitors were reduced to 14 players with nine minutes remaining when Arthur Roche was penalised for tackling McCarthy in the air.

Munster continued to press for the decisive score, with Beirne held up over the line before Casey finally settled the contest.

The scrum-half crossed from the back of a powerful rolling maul with two minutes remaining to secure a 33-25 victory.

It was a fitting result on an emotional evening for Munster, who began their European campaign with five tries, a bonus point and a performance that reflected the fighting spirit long associated with Anthony Foley.

Full-time: Munster 33-25 Racing 92

Munster try scorers: Brian Gleeson, Shay McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Fineen Wycherley and Craig Casey.

Munster: Ben O’Connor; Shay McCarthy, Alex Nankivell, Dan Kelly, Seán O’Brien; Charlie O’Shea, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Marnus van der Merwe, Jack Aungier; Tom Ahern, Tadhg Beirne (captain); Seán Edogbo, John Hodnett, Brian Gleeson.

Replacements: Max Clein, Josh Wycherley, Kieran Brookes, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Ben O’Donovan, JJ Hanrahan, Jack O’Donoghue.