Munster weren't inclined to crow too loudly - that's not their style - but the sense of satisfaction at a job well done, especially against their primary neighbours and rivals of recent years, was palpable. And while coach Declan Kidney was, typically, even less inclined to personalise this victory in any way, Paul O'Connell ably expressed the feelings of his players.

"Delighted," he said, cryptically and unequivocally, about Munster's fifth successive win, not least because it avenged their 27-20 defeat to the same opponents in Lansdowne Road in early October. "It gets our Celtic League campaign back on track and it was great to beat Leinster after losing to them in Lansdowne Road.

"Everybody knows what a Munster-Leinster match means, so it's always a thrill to beat them."

Munster's captain added, Kidney-like, "We used our luck and took our chances. In the second half we kept them under pressure and kept the scoreboard ticking. We got penalties in the right places and Rog (Ronan O'Gara) is a very tidy kicker."

Tellingly, he admitted Munster had chosen to revert more to basics during the interval time-out: "We did tighten things up a little bit because Frankie (Sheahan) was in the bin, so we decided to tighten it up for 10 minutes and it worked for us."

The implication being that it worked so well they kept with it.

"Their defence was excellent and they kept kicking it in behind us in the first half. So we tightened it up a little and things just fell into place."

O'Connell revealed the area Munster had successfully targeted: "In the last meeting we got very slow ball and they got a lot of poaches, so we worked a lot on it and it paid off today.

"They had brought good support down. These big derbies are absolutely brilliant for Irish rugby. You had a full house today and another one on Sunday in Lansdowne Road. And one of our biggest matches of our Magners League season will be against Connacht on Sunday. So we have to come back down to earth very quickly because that match could make or break our (league) season."

It was a mantra already established by the head coach.

"Sunday's game is much bigger than today's game in terms of qualifying for Europe next season. There wasn't a whole lot of space out there and we just managed to pick off our chances," said Kidney, who also referred to an interval shift in tactics.

"It's a measure of the team that they had the patience to turn things around. Sometimes it's a case of needs must, and each team presents different challenges," he added. "We gave away some penalties but we kept our discipline generally and it was a day when penalties were being given away. It was a huge effort by the likes of Denis Leamy and John O'Sullivan. I can't say enough about that man (O'Sullivan) after a performance like that. It's a hard team to break into and he's had some tough calls in the last 18 months."

Leinster coach Michael Cheika was not a happy man, and one sensed we were experiencing only a glimpse of his anger and frustration.

"We let an opportunity go. We were right in the game at half-time. But we lost our shape a little in the second half when the weight of possession against us told. You give them that amount of possession and they're going to beat you."

Leinster's defence pleased Cheika but he was clearly aggrieved by the huge penalty count against his team. Asked if his side's ill-discipline had cost them, he retorted, "That remains to be seen. I need to look at the video. I can't remember us ever conceding so many penalties. There must have been 20-plus, added to which we had a player being binned in the first five minutes and then a penalty try against us. I was disappointed with that."

While disputing the decision for the penalty try, Cheika added, "When we had one of the few chances to get the ball away then a linesman comes in and we get penalised again.

"We kept getting penalised and against possibly the world's best kicker. But we lost our shape."

More worryingly still, Cheika confirmed the ankle injury that forced Girvan Dempsey from the field looked serious and while he dismissed concerns about Felipe Contepomi apparently aggravating the injury to his left knee, that too must be a worry.

Scarcely minutes into his return, weeks ahead of schedule, the last thing the Puma needed was the sight of Trevor Halstead running full tilt at him. Thereafter, he was discernibly limping on his left leg, in clear pain.

"It was a tight game, not a classic, and the crowd certainly gets right into it. We've had three away games like this in front of big crowds, in Ravenhill, in Agen, and now here, and we're learning all the time," said Cheika in summation. "We're disappointed, because we had our chance at half-time, and not many teams can say that." In fact, it's a familiar refrain from beaten visiting coaches.