There were the likes of Marcus Horan who has passed the 200 cap mark. And there was Donncha O'Callaghan and Mick O'Driscoll who are next in line to hit that mark. But there was a clutch of youngsters in the side who stepped up to the mark and ensure that Hayes ended his time in the Munster jersey, as he had started it, with a win.

And in contrast to recent games, Munster didn't leave their supporters clinging to the edge of their seats as the final whistle beckoned, instead really wrapping up this game in the opening half with tries from debutante Sean Scanlon and Tomas O'Leary.

They led 18-3 at the break and at no stage in the second half did the visitors look like overturning that lead. Not that they didn't have either the possession and therefore the opportunity. But Munster's defence was rock solid while Connacht showed a certain lack of ambition in the latter stages as they opted for shots at goal rather than the close-in lineout and the chance of a five/seven pointer. Two second half penalties from Ian Keatley were sufficient to keep Munster in front throughout the second period.

Keatley opened with two misses from the 10 metre line before opening his side's account with an easier effort in the 15th minute. He kicked a second eight minutes later and after Niall O'Connor had got Connacht up and running Scanlon scored a beauty of a try.

It started when the impressive Paddy Butler won possession, Simon Zebo slipped a pass to Keith Earls whose sumptuous quick off-load sent Luke O'Dea racing clear. He in turn found Scanlon who cut inside to race home.

Keatley added the conversion and then six minutes from the break O'Leary took full advantage, when Fetu'u Vainikolo made a total bags of O'Leary's grubber, to score Munster's second try.

O'Connor missed a penalty just before and just after the break and that, to all intents and purposes, was that as far as Connacht were concerned.

From a crowd point of view it became a case of waiting and watching for Hayes to depart. And when he did, around the 60th minute mark, the place erupted, the man from Cappamore treated to over a minute of sustained applause while those left behind continued with their business.

Munster: S Scanlon; L O'Dea, K Earls, D Barnes, S Zebo; I Keatley, T O'Leary; M Horan, D Fogarty, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll; B Holland, N Ronan, P Butler. Replacements: BJ Botha for Hayes (59 mins), J Coughlan for Butler (63), D Williams for O'Leary (64), D Kilcoyne for Horan (69), I Nagle for O'Driscoll (74), S Henry for Fogarty (74), S Deasy for Keatley (77), T Gleeson for Zebo (77).

Connacht: G Duffy; F Vainikolo, E Griffin, D McSharry, T O'Halloran; N O'Connor, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, E Reynecke, R Loughney; G Naoupu, M McCarthy; D Gannon, J O'Connor, J Muldoon. Replacements: K Tonetti for McSharry (h-t), M Kearney for Gannon (53), P O'Donohoe for Murphy (58), R Ah You for Loughney (64), M Jarvis for N O'Connor (64), A Flavin for Reynecke (67), E McKeon for Muldoon (77).

Referee: Dudley Philips (IRFU).