Celtic League / Munster 10 Dragons 8: It's a matter of perspective. For any neutral who strayed into Musgrave Park or the beleaguered knot of Dragons' supporters it represented an error-ridden morass only briefly punctuated with vignettes of good rugby, an occasion that was ultimately unfulfilling

However, from a Munster standpoint, beneath the mistakes, the poor decision-making and errant execution there was a core of steel.

The Irish province won this match because their defence refused to buckle and of equal importance, they maintained their discipline to negate what until then had been the omnipresent whistle of referee Malcolm Changleng.

The Dragons piled on the pressure in the closing stages but Munster remained vigilant and focused, patiently waiting for the Welsh region to cough up the football under pressure. In the end it would have cheered the home support a little. There are times when winning, no matter how ugly, is the only commodity that matters.

It was easy to understand why coach Declan Kidney was delighted at the final whistle.

There were 11 changes to the side that beat the Sale Sharks so memorably at Thomond Park, several young and fringe players given the chance to offer their tuppence to the weekly selection debate. Within that framework, there were new units throughout the team, at halfback in the frontrow and the backrow.

There were glitches, many of them over the course of an evening that had started brightly. Mossie Lawler was handed the unfamiliar role of outhalf, one to which he initially took to with some aplomb.

His line kicking was assured, he made a couple of decent breaks and kicked a fine penalty to boot. However, he became embroiled in trying to do a little bit too much, a noble intention but one that was to prove his undoing.

He was also the victim of a patchy performance from the Munster pack. The lineout creaked initially, then found a credible rhythm as Stephen Keogh and Mick O'Driscoll won plenty of ball, only to struggle again late on in the match. This is largely attributable to the fact hooker Denis Fogarty received a boot to his nether regions courtesy of Jamie Ringer.

He did well to just stand up. He'd been prominent around the pitch for most of the game but it was understandable that his effectiveness was curtailed thereafter. The Irish province bossed the scrum and it was to give them a platform for their only try.

The ball presentation at the breakdown wasn't ideal and this meant his own forwards were occasionally compromising Tomas O'Leary at scrumhalf. The young Dolphin player won't have been happy with his overall performance, his passing a little too erratic for comfort. He knows it's an area he needs to develop as he brings so many other qualities.

He's also handicapped by a lack of game time, essential to honing skills in a pressure-laden environment.

There was an anxiousness to much of Munster's play with players eschewing the simple in favour of riskier attractions. Everyone wanted to make an impact without realising that the best way to do so is perform flawlessly as a team.

Munster needed their experienced regulars to stand up and they did. Mick O'Driscoll has enjoyed an excellent season to date and that continued with another high-profile performance that extended beyond his basic duties. The "secondrow union" will shun him for his wanton gallop down the touchline complete with sidestep that almost yielded a try. He did look for support but his colleagues were perhaps left a little agog following his 50-metre run.

Anthony Foley led by example, defying the obvious pain from a second hugely physical outing in seven days, organising, chivvying and demonstrating his footballing brain to run excellent support lines, one of which he was rewarded with a try.

Shaun Payne exudes class while Ian Dowling was the pick of a three-quarter line in which Gary Connolly had his moments.

It would be churlish not to acknowledge the fact Munster enjoyed every little rub on the evening, right down to a couple of rulings that went against them for tries. Jason Forster had a pretty decent case for a try while tighthead prop Bryn Griffiths looked to have scored a perfectly legitimate effort.

But what will disappoint the Welsh region is that even allowing for those setbacks they still had enough possession and field position to win the match a couple of times over. Apart from an excellent driving maul and the odd occasion they managed to get outside Munster's first line of defence they contributed hugely to their own downfall with some pretty slipshod fare.

Jason Forster worked hard in a decent effort by the pack but apart from some touches by Sione Tuipolotu in the centre the back play was substandard.

Munster opened the scoring on four minutes, the Munster scrum getting a shunt on to disrupt the Dragons' feed. O'Leary spoiled well, Lawler made a break, linked with Connolly who put Foley over with an opportune switch.

Lawler kicked the conversion and tagged on a penalty later in the half following a try from Dragons prop Adam Black.

Warlow reduced the gap to just two points on 64 minutes but despite a muscular finish to the game the Welsh side just didn't have the finesse to crack Munster's defensive code, even when the latter were reduced to 14 men for a 10-minute period in the half.

Munster return to the top of the table without a fanfare but they won't care.

Scoring sequence. 4 mins: Foley try, Lawler conversion, 7-0; 10: Black try, 7-5; 29: Lawler penalty, 10-5. Half-time: 10-5. 64: Warlow penalty, 10-8.

MUNSTER: S Payne; A Horgan, B Murphy, G Connolly, I Dowling; M Lawler, T O'Leary; F Roche, D Fogarty, F Pucciariello; T Hogan, M O'Driscoll; S Keogh, J O'Connor, A Foley (capt). Replacements: T Buckley for Roche 65 mins; A Kavanagh for O'Connor 71 mins. Yellow card: I Dowling (51 mins)

DRAGONS: A Thomas; R Fussell, S Tuipolotu, C Sweeney, B Breeze; C Warlow, G Cooper; A Black, S Jones, R Thomas; B Griffiths, P Sidoli; J Ringer, J Forster, R Oakley. Replacements: A Hall for Griffiths 61 mins; S Van Rensburg for Oakley 61 mins; D Maddocks for Black 71 mins; J Bryant for Tuipolotu 75 mins. Yellow card: Sidoli (38 mins)

Referee: M Changleng (Scotland).