Munster’s slim hope of a place in the RaboDirect PRO12 play-offs was probably ended when they were emphatically beaten in Scoutstoun Stadium on Friday evening.
And events in the opening half gave no indication of the fate that was to befall them even if they trailed 20-14 at the break.
In that opening half they gave away two intercept tries, the first in the opening minute, yet showed enough control and composure to lead early in the second quarter thanks to tries from Casey Laulala and Dave Kilcoyne both converted by Ronan O’Gara who had a major influence until his departure in the 57th minute.
But then, attempting to run a ball from inside their own 22, the coughed up another intercept for livewire scrum-half Nikola Matawalu to race in under the posts.
Ruaridh Jackson converted and landed two late penalties to leave Munster trailing a half they should have won.
O’Gara narrowed the gap just nine minutes after the restart but seven minutes later Jackson raced in for a third try and having added the extras landed a penalty for 13 point lead.
Replacement Mark Bennett heaped further misery on the visitors with a 68th minute try and just after, Stuart Hogg used his blistering pace to score a fifth.
Doug Howlett squeezed in at the corner for a try that needed confirming by the TMO but the Warriors weren’t done with and John Barclay ended the scoring with a try just before the end.
Munster: F Jones; D Howlett, C Laulala, J Downey (I Dineen 57th min), J Murphy; R O’Gara (I Keatley 57th min), D Williams (C Sheridan 53rd min); D Kilcoyne (W du Preez 63rd min) , M Sherry (D Varley 57th min), BJ Botha (S Archer 54th min); Donncha O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (B Holland 74th min); P Butler (N Ronan 63rd min), T O’Donnell , J Coughlan.
Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; S Maitland, S Lamont, P Horne, DTH van der Merwe; R Jackson, N Matawalu; R Grant, P MacArthur, J Welsh, T Swinson, A Kellock capt, J Strauss, J Barclay, R Wilson. Replacements: D Hall, O Fainga'anuku, M Low, T Ryder, R Harley, H Pyrgos, D Weir, M Bennett