Munster recorded their second victory in Thomond Park this season as they defeated the Scarlets 17-6 tonight.

In an important week for the club, with the trip to Sale only eight days away the win came courtesy of a try from Andrew Smith after 25 minutes but there should have been more.

The Welsh side never looked like an upset and with just one win in their last ten trips away from Parc Y Scarlets it doesn’t get any easier for them as Toulon wait in the wings at Stade Mayol next weekend.

Scarlets got the first score in the second minute when Rhys Priestland spotted a penalty advantage and let fly with a drop-goal attempt however the result was uncertain until TMO Seamus Flannery awarded the points.

Munster could have drawn level immediately after when Tommy O’Donnell forced a penalty but JJ Hanrahan was off target.

Hanrahan made amends and leveled matters after 21 minutes, the Welsh were pinged because they didn’t roll away with Munster on the offensive and this time the UL Bohs clubman made no mistake.

It wasn’t long before Simon Zebo was in the thick of things, he broke the gain-line after a pop pass from Conor Murray. Munster pilfered their way forward and found a way through the Scarlets resistance, Murray relayed to Hanrahan who flashed it out to Andrew Smith who got over in the corner.

Hanrahan missed the touchline conversion and then Munster’s ill-discipline gifted Priestland the opportunity to narrow the advantage but he also missed the target and the scoreboard read 8-3 with half-an-hour played.

Another penalty came Priestland’s way when Johne Murphy didn’t release and this one hit the post but the Welsh fly-half finally punished Munster two minutes before the break to make it 8-6 at half-time.

Munster made the ideal start to the second-half when they won a penalty off a scrum and Hanrahan stroked over a difficult kick to give them a five-point lead for the second time.

Joe Snyman strayed offside to give Hanrahan another chance to add to his tally, that went astray but he couldn’t miss when Liam Williams infringed and it was 14-6 with 49 minutes on the clock.

The play soon became disjointed as Scarlets brought on an entirely new front row and they pushed their way up towards the Munster line only for a huge kick from Zebo to relieve the pressure as Liam Williams knocked on.

Hanrahan made it four from seven on the night as he extended Munster's advantage just after the hour with a penalty.

Then the Scarlets rearguard parted as Pitman failed to control at the base and O’Donnell sprinted clear, he offloaded to Peter O’Mahony who tried to put Zebo in the clear but he lost it forward.

Munster were still well in the ascendency but never kicked into fifth gear and despite the fact that they forced two decisions from the TMO late on, Munster never got their second try.

Munster: Johne Murphy; Gerhard van den Heever, Andrew Smith, Ivan Dineen, Simon Zebo; JJ Hanrahan (Ian Keatley 65), Conor Murray (Duncan Williams 72); Dave Kilcoyne (James Cronin 52), Kevin O’Byrne (Eusebio Guinazu 52), BJ Botha (Stephen Archer 74); Dave Foley (Donncha O’Callaghan 74), Billy Holland; Peter O’Mahony (Capt.) (Robin Copeland 65), Tommy O'Donnell, CJ Stander.

Referee: Claudio Blessano (FIR)