Leinster 30 Munster 0:The resignation with which Ronan O'Gara kicked the ball out of play to prompt the final whistle said it all. Awarded a penalty in added time, the Munster outhalf had no time to kick for touch and decided to hasten Munster's departure from the RDS rather than attempt to kick three futile points.
There would have been no comfort in registering their only score after the 80 minutes had passed and it would not have made the slightest difference to the post mortem on a game that saw the Magners League champions torn asunder by their closest rivals, whose performance was proof, if it were needed, that last May’s European Cup semi-final win was no fluke.
It was the visitors first ever whitewash in the tournament and it came as a result of a near flawless display from the European champions, whose performance was as close to flawless as has been witnessed by their fans, who played their part too in creating a white hot atmosphere.
Unlike his Munster counterpart, Michael Cheika opted to play his strongest hand and that was rewarded in full with tries from centres Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll and wing Shane Horgan.
The three old boys landed the blows, to allow the ever-improving Jonathan Sexton the opportunity to enhance his reputation with as many conversions and three penalties.
There were big performances in blue everywhere. Man-of-the-match Kevin McLaughlin delivered the performance of his life in his fifth appearance of the season and will have eased the concerns of those who though Rocky Elsom’s departure could prove fatal.
In defence, Leinster barely put a foot wrong and consistently turned over possession at the breakdown, essentially ‘outmunstering’ Munster.
The setpieces stood up scrutiny, with John Fogarty’s darts reliable and Nathan Hines and captain Leo Cullen dominant in the air.
In attack they tried it all, and it all came off.
It was a typically breathless opening as the provincial rivals tore into each other, showing immense physicality with the Leinster pack menacingly coming to the fore.
Jamie Heaslip, McLaughlin and the energetic Hines put in some huge hits, as did Horgan and O'Driscoll in his first match back since the Lions tour.
Playing into a swirling wind, Munster's usual precision was missing. Donncha O'Callaghan was whistled up for being ahead of the kicker in the fifth minute, allowing Sexton to boot Leinster in front.
O'Gara miscued with his first penalty attempt, much to the delight of the home fans, and the blue tide swept forward under Cullen's baton.
They should have scored the opening try when an outstanding maul drive brought them to within inches of the Munster whitewash.
Tomás O'Leary was fortunate to avoid a yellow card when conceding a penalty under his posts, but Sexton's resulting penalty gave Leinster some reward.
Continuing to win the collisions, the hosts pulled 13-0 clear after 26 minutes with a classy try engineered by McLaughlin's grunt and O'Driscoll's guile.
The young flanker made the hard yards in the middle before O'Driscoll fixed both Marcus Horan and Denis Leamy with a terrific pass to Horgan. The big winger galloped forward and offloaded inside for the supporting D'Arcy to ease over.
Sexton added the conversion and while Munster improved in open play, gaining territory with leg-pumping bursts from Leamy and Nick Williams, a couple of excellent turnovers saw Leinster hold firm for a 13-0 half-time lead.
Six minutes into the second half, the game was effectively beyond Munster's reach. O'Driscoll scampered past Jean de Villiers and away from Keith Earls' grasp for another try, which Sexton converted.
Lions captain Paul O'Connell and David Wallace made little impression off the bench for Munster as the men in red continued to struggle for quality possession and Leinster's tackle count rose further.
As Munster attempted to maul forward on their 22, a grounded Healy looked to bring it down illegally and Hayes took matters into his own hands by lashing out Healy with his right boot.
Ireland's most-capped player saw red and Sexton stretched Leinster's lead to 23 points.
Nine minutes from the finish, Horgan rubbed salt into Munster wounds by intercepting a Paul Warwick pass that was bound for De Villiers and romping over for a deserved try.
Sexton's successful conversion brought the curtains down on Leinster's 11th straight win at their Dublin base and the first occasion Munster have been held scoreless in league action.
