Munster wing Sean O’Brien scored two tries to put a huge dent in Ospreys’ hopes of an end-of-season play-off spot with a 27-17 win.
Errors from the hosts gifted Munster a healthy early lead and the home side never looked like clawing back that deficit.
Shane Daly and RG Snyman were also on the try-scoring sheet for the Irish side with Joey Carbery converting two and adding a penalty.
Keelan Giles, Sam Parry and Alex Cuthbert scored tries for Ospreys, one of which Owen Williams converted.
It took only three minutes for the reigning champions to take the lead when full-back Mike Haley burst into the line allowing Daly to out-flank the cover defence and score.
Worse was soon to follow for Ospreys when a pass from Owen Williams was intercepted by O’Brien who handed off Giles on a 55-metre run to the line.
Full-Time | Ospreys 17 - 27 Munster
Tries from Shane Daly, Seán O'Brien (x2) and RG Snyman and seven points from the boot of Joey Carbery secure a vital bonus-point win on the road 🥳#OSPvMUN #SUAF 🔴 pic.twitter.com/pKTbOPyaf6
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) March 22, 2024
O’Brien repeated the dose, this time it was a pass from Keiran Williams which went astray, with the wing performing heroics to keep his kick ahead in play to secure the touchdown. Carbery converted from the touchline to give Munster a 19-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Despite the scoreline, Ospreys had the better of territory and possession in the first half-hour and they were rewarded when centres Keiran Williams and Evardi Boshoff combined effectively to create a try for Giles.
Munster immediately responded with a sustained period of pressure, with Justin Tipuric sin-binned for persistent team infringements but Ospreys held out to trail 19-5 at half-time.
After the restart, Tipuric returned with no damage done to the scoreboard and in time to see Parry force his way over from a line-out drive.
Ospreys were back in contention but their opponents soon extended their advantage when the giant Snyman used his power to force his way over for the bonus-point try.
Carbery missed the conversion but was on target with a penalty to leave Ospreys with a mountain to climb.
Cuthbert had the final say with Ospreys’ third try and may have had another had he not pulled up with a hamstring problem but it still left his side with no points from the game.
