Munster reign at Kingsholm

Munster made the most of an off day from Chris Paterson to defeat Gloucester 16-3 in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

The Magners League side scored a try in each half from wingers Ian Dowling and Doug Howlett to silence the packed Shed at Kingsholm.

Not even the return of fit-again Mike Tindall off the bench could help the Cherry and Whites arrest a worrying recent slump in form that had seen them lose three of their four outings in March.

The England centre was summoned from the bench shortly before half-time in an attempt to try and bring to life a faltering back line lacking penetration.

Crucial try

His arrival was a swift response from head coach Dean Ryan to seeing Munster score the opening try of the contest through Dowling in the 39th minute.

It had all started out with Munster in the familiar position of defending in their own 22 until Howlett sparked a stunning counter attack from deep that ended up with his opposite winger diving over on the right.

Ronan O'Gara's successful conversion made it 11-0 in the visitors' favour after Gloucester had spurned chance after chance to pick up points.

Paterson was the biggest culprit, the winger appearing to have left his kicking boots at home as he missed three shots at goal which he usually would have knocked over in his sleep.

His first attempt came in the opening seconds after centre Lifiemi Mefi impeded a Gloucester runner trying to get on the end of the kick-off.

The early infringement set the tone for a scrappy 10 minutes with both teams fired up, perhaps a little too much in the case of Lesley Vainikolo as he at one stage attempted to square up to most of the Munster pack after throwing Rua Tipoki to the floor.

The plethora of penalties forced referee Nigel Owens to warn both sides and when Carlos Nieto was caught on the wrong side at the bottom of a ruck, the yellow card was quickly produced by the official.

O'Gara succeeded where Paterson had failed and when Gloucester were next awarded a penalty skipper Marco Bortolami decided not to bother going for goal, instead opting for a scrum that ended in a knock-on.

A further penalty from the Munster number 10's boot at the start of the second half pushed the lead into double figures and left the hosts with a mountain to climb.

Solid defence

Just as they had done in the first 40 minutes they desperately knocked at the door only to turn the ball over at crucial stages against a rock-solid defensive line led by the impressive Tupoki.

Munster showed them how it should be done when a rare foray out of their own half resulted in Howlett clinching the game.

Gaining possession in midfield, Munster moved the ball out wide before Hurley cleverly straightened the line of attack and then kicked for the corner.

Just as he had done throughout the evening Howlett got the better of Vainikolo to gleefully drop on the ball before it crept out into touch.

Although O'Gara missed the conversion from out wide a 16-0 lead was more than enough to see the 2006 winners through to the last four.

All Gloucester could muster in reply was a Ryan Lamb penalty. If Paterson could have managed the same in the early stages perhaps it would have been the Guinness Premiership outfit still dreaming of European glory.