A performance that bore significant improvements from that witnessed in Newport last weekend was not enough to see Edinburgh become the first team to win at Thomond Park this season.
Despite the defeat, interim head coach Nick Scrivener and his squad could depart the great Limerick citadel in much better heart than was the case come full-time at Rodney Parade six days ago, a spirited, gutsy showing having threatened at various junctures to produce what would have been a truly momentous result.
The set-piece and breakdown, identified by Scrivener as the main aspects of Edinburgh's game that required attention, were better, but will need to go up another level still if a third straight away Magners League game, against Scarlets on Thursday, is to produce a win.
Still, encouraging signs are encouraging signs and Edinburgh certainly have something to building come the trip to Parc y Scarlets.
A rainy old day in Limerick gave way to a bright and breezy evening, with the Thomond Park crowd turning out, as ever, in good numbers and voice.The teams exchanged early penalties, Chris Paterson and Ronan O'Gara being presented with straightforward opportunities with which to get their range.
Both kickers were grateful for this chance to get their eye in swiftly, and the scoreboard duly ticked round to three points apiece.
Munster have built a reputation as experts of the forward arts, and immediately attempted to establish dominance in these areas. A powerful scrum close to the Edinburgh line caused a few hairy moments for the visiting defence, but David Blair held his nerve to sweep the ball away cleanly from deep in the in-goal area.
Next up to be tested was Edinburgh's defence close to the ruck, and again, despite some minor scares here and there, they came through deservedly unscathed until a knock-on gave Munster the feed at another close-range scrum and the side from the Scottish capital were pinged for dropping a bind.
The Limerick team opted for another set-piece, then the pick-and-go, before eventually exploiting a modicum of space on the left of the Edinburgh defence to put prop Tony Buckley over in the corner. O'Gara couldn't add the extras, but conceding a score was sufficiently worrying for the visitors.
To their credit, Scrivener's men weren't slow to get back on the front foot, Lee Jones coming inside to make a cute half-break in midfield that had Munster killing the ball at a subsequent breakdown. Paterson knocked over another simple three-pointer to give the Scots some confidence; a belief that won't have been harmed by a further beautifully-judged Blair clearance as Munster sought instant retribution.
Edinburgh were still being required to do a little too much defending for their coaches' liking, but at least this facet of their game was standing up well to the examination. In truth, the Scots were also assisted but some untypically loose handling from the home team, who mixed lovely offloads with fare that was altogether less impressive.Edinburgh were rewarded for hanging tough in the face of adversity as they levelled up the try count with five minutes remaining in the half.
A majestic Tim Visser break created an overlap on the right, and the ever-alert Ross Rennie quickly ferried possession onto Jones. The Borderer set up the ruck, allowing the Edinburgh pack to arrive on scene and move the play slowly but persistently left until Geoff Cross took the bull by the horns and burrowed over the line for his second score in as many games.
Paterson landed the conversion to put Edinburgh five points up, and the lead could have been extended yet further seconds later when Visser again crept into space, this time at the left-hand corner, but couldn't quite control the ball as it arrived above his head and in a flash the chance was gone.
The importance of taking full advantage of opportunities when they came was underlined when, from nothing, the hosts grabbed a score which would send them into the interval on level terms. In the wake of a botched Edinburgh lineout on halfway, gifted centre Lifeimi Mafi twisted out of a tackle and sped away before feeding Doug Howlett to his right.The winger touched the afterburners to glide towards the corner, eluding Greig Laidlaw's desperate attempts to persuade him into touch.
There was no conversion, meaning the sides turned round all-square, a fair reflection of an action-packed first half.
HALF-TIME: MUNSTER 13 EDINBURGH 13
With the game so delicately poised, the third quarter loomed large as a potentially pivotal period, and Munster got off to the better start when O'Gara knocked over a penalty awarded when Edinburgh brought down a scrum.The home side kept up the pressure, attempting to probe an area of Edinburgh weakness from last week in Newport, defending the opposition maul, but this time Scrivener's troops fared much better, even forcing a penalty as Munster dallied and held on.
While this was encouraging, Edinburgh couldn't quite establish the same foothold as they had enjoyed during the latter phase of the opening period. There were anxious moments as a cute kick ahead set up a well-matched footrace, won brilliantly by Laidlaw who dotted the ball dead before Munster could complete a score.
The game again began to swing subtly Edinburgh's way after this close call. Visser, Fraser McKenzie and replacement loose-head Lewis Niven all made yards with ball in hand, even if the visitors' efforts were undermined by a tendency to cough up the pill at just the wrong moment in proceedings.
In terms of clinical efficiency, Munster have long been leading the way, and having survived this spell of Edinburgh threat, broke to score their third try. It was that man Howlett who again crossed the line at the end of a flowing backline move to which the Scotsmen had no answer.
So, ultimately frustration, but plenty of fight in there as well.
Munster: J Murphy; D Howlett, L Mafi, P Warwick, D Hurley; R O’Gara, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley, D Ryan, M O’Driscoll, D Leamy (captain), J Coughlan, T O’DonnellSubs: D Fogarty, M Horan, S Archer, I Nagle, B Holland, D Williams, T Gleeson, S Zebo
Edinburgh: C Paterson; L Jones, B Cairns, J King, T Visser; D Blair, G Laidlaw (captain); K Traynor, A Kelly, G Cross, S MacLeod, S Turnbull, F McKenzie, N Talei, R RennieSubs: A Walker, L Niven, D Young, A MacDonald, R Grant, N De Luca, S Webster, J Thompson
Ref: N Owens (WRU)
