Leinster 13 Munster 9: IN THE greater scheme of things, this was arguably the preferable result. Leinster's need was the greater, and how it showed in a compelling last 30 minutes, for it sent them into Europe with a timely injection of self-belief.
Munster will have to lick their wounds and park their inferiority complex against the auld enemy for another day.
But history has taught us that a defeat before the Heineken Cup comes around can be timely for them, too.
Had Leinster gone into their meetings with Racing Metro and Saracens on the back of a fourth defeat in five games this season, the damage to their confidence might have been too great. After all, when they won the corresponding fixture against Munster 30-0 at the RDS 12 months ago to take a five-from-five record into European opening night, a fat lot of good it did them against London Irish.
Their pack fronted up properly for the first time this season, and, after battering each other in a high-octane defensive session last Tuesday, they duly rediscovered their line speed and aggression in defence.
In truth, though, for all the savage intensity and collisions, this was not a match of high quality. Conditions obviously made handling difficult, but, overly fearful of making mistakes, both sides were guilty of failing to explore obvious running opportunities from deep.
All changed, changed utterly though, with the introduction of Eoin Reddan and Jonathan Sexton. The old Munster dogs have lost some of their bite without Paul O'Connell and Jerry Flannery, but for much of the first 20 minutes, if only marginally, and briefly at the start of the second, they looked the likelier winners.
However, for all their territorial supremacy over the first 50, the biggest concern for Tony McGahan and co was how little momentum they generated off their ball.
That said, their counter-rucking and physicality were immense. Take, for example, their response to the sin binning of Lifeimi Mafi for his high-armed swing at Rob Kearney (which along with a similar, eh, "tackle" on Gordon D'Arcy after Isa Nacewa made one of the game's rare line-breaks, could yet have repercussions).
Upping their intensity, they went hunting in twos and packs, with Sam Tuitupou a human wrecking ball. Leinster had begun to target the midfield, which Mafi had been obliged to vacate, but Niall Ronan filled in by enveloping Shane Horgan around the ankles.
Tuitupou and Donnacha Ryan then drove Nathan Hines backwards, before Johne Murphy and Doug Howlett enveloped the retreating D'Arcy from Howlett's kick ahead.
Each time the men in red poured in to complete turnovers, which in turn led to Ronan O'Gara pushing them 6-3 ahead when Dominic Ryan was harshly adjudged to have come in from the side.
As a statement of intent, it looked pretty powerful.
However, this was soon followed by a stunning offload by Brian O'Driscoll, and cue the arrival of Reddan and Sexton. Not surprisingly, until that point, the Tomás O'Leary-O'Gara axis had given Munster an edge, not least in their kicking games.
Immediately though, Reddan and Sexton explored ways of finding space in a game that until that juncture had seemed like it was 20-a-side, and they invigorated the Leinster backline into life.
From the moment Jamie Heaslip won Sexton's deft restart on the deck, Leinster came knocking with increasing belief for the next dozen minutes until the almost inevitable, decisive blow.
Where before Isaac Boss, for all his physical presence around the fringe, had crabbed laterally a little too much, Reddan set about varying the point of attack by exploring the blindside and quickening up Leinster's supply lines.
Sexton's second touch, meanwhile, had a seismic effect on the contest.
In a clever variation of his trademark wraparound, Heaslip helped to bunch the Munster midfield with a deft link from O'Driscoll's soft offload to move the ball on to Dominic Ryan. Though the flanker couldn't link with Kearney and Nacewa outside, credit also has to go to Murphy's clever defensive line. But suddenly the whole tenor of the game had changed.
The Munster wing had to make an even bigger defensive play to deny Luke Fitzgerald after a superb intrusion by Kearney, but though the Leinster pack mucked up a couple of attacking set-pieces, there was an irresistible force with them now.
The origins of the breakthrough try had been a baffling call for a crooked throw against Damien Varley. But when Reddan tapped off an indirect penalty from the ensuing scrum, the ever-alert Fitzgerald, Heaslip, Hines and Ryan carried before Reddan quick-wittedly attacked the blindside, drawing Murphy, which in turn drew Paul Warwick in off the wing for Seán O'Brien, running from deep, to take his and Denis Leamy's tackle and put O'Driscoll over.
Revealing a ferocity hitherto absent in defence, the great one had grown and grown into this game when liberated by Reddan and Sexton. Cometh the hour and all that yet again.
It had long since appeared like a 1-0 game, and now with a lead to defend there was never much chance Leinster were going to suddenly open up.
By contrast, Munster had seemed more intent on seeking out collisions with men in blue rather than space, and when, with six minutes left on the clock, they opted for an attacking lineout up the line rather than shoot for goal to reduce the lead to a point, they backed themselves into a corner.
Leinster knew that if they didn't concede a try they were home and hosed, and did so in the knowledge they hadn't conceded a try to Munster in almost five meetings, dating back to April 2009.
Leinster have the edge now and, no mistake, they know it.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4 mins: O'Gara pen 0-3; 24: Nacewa pen 3-3 (half-time 3-3); 49: O'Gara pen 3-6; 55: Nacewa pen 6-6; 57: O'Gara pen 6-9; 70: O'Driscoll try, Nacewa con 13-9.
LEINSTER: R Kearney; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; I Nacewa, I Boss; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross, N Hines, D Toner, D Ryan, S O'Brien, J Heaslip (capt). Replacements: E Reddan for Boss, J Sexton for Horgan (both 55 mins), H van der Merwe for Healy (62 mins), S Shawe for Ross, R Ruddock for Heaslip (both 77 mins). Not used: J Harris-Wright, M Galarza, F McFadden.
MUNSTER: P Warwick; D Howlett, L Mafi, S Tuitupou, J Murphy; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; W du Preez, D Varley, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, D Ryan, A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Leamy (capt). Replacements: D Wallace for Quinlan (56 mins), M Horan for du Preez, M O'Driscoll for Ryan (both 64 mins). Not used: S Henry, Darragh Hurley, P Stringer, S Deasy, Denis Hurley. Sinbinned: Mafi (44-54 mins).
Referee: Jerome Garces(FFR).
