O’Mahony picked up the Heineken Man of the Match award to make it an even better day for the home team, while Gloucester only had a Charlie Sharples try to cheer them. Sharples darted over in the first half to offer hope of getting something out of the game.

But despite that score, and Gloucester’s all round effort and resilience, they ultimately left empty-handed following home tries by Damien Varley and Johne Murphy.

Following victory over Perpignan last week, and with one eye on next weekend’s west country derby against Bath,  Gloucester coach Nigel Davies gambled with his selection by dropping Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees, Jimmy Cowan and Freddie Burns.

That move looked to have backfired when Munster gained an early 9-0 lead as fly-half Jonny Bentley scuffed his first kick, Ben Morgan fumbled and Martyn Thomas trudged off after failing to recover from an early collision with Casey Laulala.

However if Gloucester proved anything against Perpigan the previous week, it is that they do not lack the belief or ability to claw their way back and this time one of Davies’ selections paid off handsomely.

Dan Robson kicked Gloucester up field and the chase by Jonny May was just as effective as Gloucester gained a foot-hold in Munster territory. Rupert Harden and Matt Cox provided the bulwark from the resulting drive and with Munster anticipating the next forward to take up the charge, Robson cleverly switched tact and instead released Sharples who skipped over in the corner for the game’s opening try.

Bentley steered over his conversion from close to the touchline by Bentley and the seven points were a breath of fresh air for Gloucester.

Sharples scared the life out of Munster whenever he touched the ball and Mike Tindall also made headway in midfield. But neither could do much about the devastating power of the Munster pack who smashed their way over just before half-time.

Bentley offered Gloucester a glimmer of light with a penalty before the break though made way on 50 minutes for Freddie Burns. Gloucester braced themselves for the Irish fury in the opening exchanges and if there was one area they enjoyed superiority it was at the scrum where Harden, Darren Dawiduik and Dan Murphy gained the upper hand.

Burns entered the fray on 50 minutes and proved a picture of composure as Keatley looked to pin back Gloucester. Rob Cook also soaked up anything that came his way and also showed an exciting willingness to launch a counter-attack from any opportunity.

Keatley was off-target on 54 minutes and only some last-ditch defending kept Munster at bay. Gloucester’s scrum proved a defensive weapon as well, Munster No8 O’Mahony fumbling a promising position on the back foot though a penalty still allowed Keatley to open a nine-point lead that would deny Gloucester a losing bonus.

That was all they could reasonably look for just a minute later when Murphy plucked Munster’s second try from the Limerick sky.

Cook failed to gather another clever hoisted kick by Murphy and Keatley swiftly spotted the acres of field out wide and delivered a delightfully weighted cross-field kick that Murphy simply had to gather and score the decisive try.