It was a case of history repeating itself in the Sportsground in Galway with Munster beating Connacht by 3 points to nil in bleak conditions.

Munster were forced to re-shuffle their bench hours before kick-off when Frank Sheahan cried off with a stomach complaint.

Munster. Christian Cullen; Paul Devlin, James Storey, Jason Holland, Anthony Horgan, Paul Burke, Eoin Reddan; Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes; Donncha O Callaghan, Paul O Connell; Stephen Keogh, Denis Leamy, Anthony Foley capt.