The introduction of Lion Ronan O'Gara kickstarted Munster's charge to an easy 40-19 victory over Connacht in tonight's Celtic League match at Thomond Park.

When O'Gara joined proceedings 14 minutes from the end Munster led 21-12, with seven penalties by Jeremy Staunton against four for Connacht by Eric Elwood.

It had been an error-ridden affair up to then, but the arrival of O'Gara brought a transformation to Munster.

Within two minutes, a superb chip by O'Gara over the defence sent John O'Neill in unopposed for Munster's first try.

Two minutes later came a brilliant try by man-of-the-match Staunton. Gaining possession near halfway, he jinked past several defenders and sold a delightful dummy to sweep in for one of the finest tries seen at the venue.

After 78 minutes, O'Gara created the move which ended with Marcus Horan getting a Munster try in the corner which Staunton superbly converted from the touchline for a personal tally of 30 points.

Munster had to rely on their substitutes to bring them victory. Their line-out was in tatters until international Frankie Sheehan went on after an hour - and his line-out throws brought a big improvement.

It was a help too when Connacht's Colm Rigney was sin-binned. But once O'Gara entered the fray it was curtains for Connacht, who had defended superbly up to that stage.

Elwood kicked superbly for Connacht but they rarely looked like penetrating the Munster defence until three minutes into injury time. Then replacement scrum-half Eoin Brennan nipped in, and Elwood tapped over the conversion to end Connacht's misery.

But Munster will have to do considerably better. They made far too many errors in the first half and early in the second.

Scorers:
Munster 40: Staunton 1t 7p 2c, O'Neill 1t, Horan 1t.

Connacht 19: Elwood 4p 1c, Reddan 1t.

MUNSTER: J Staunton; J O'Neill, M Mullins, J Kelly, A Horgan; J Holland, P Stringer; M Horan, J Blaney, J Hayes; M Galwey (capt.), M O' Driscoll, A Quinlan, D Wallace, A Foley. Replacements F Sheahan for Blaney 60 mins. P O'Connell for O'Driscoll 63 mins. R O'Gara for Kelly 67 mins. J Williams for Foley 71 mins.

CONNACHT: G Duffey; P Duignan, D Yapp, T Allnut, O Grennan; E Elwood, J Ferris; D McFarland, M Uijs, P Bracken; R Frost, M McConnell (capt.), M Swift, C Rigny (yellow 65 mins), D Dillon. Replacements E Redden for Ferris 66 mins. J O'Connor for Swift 75 mins.