Munster got themselves back on track with a hard fought and thoroughly deserved 22-6 win over Connacht in front of a near 11,000 crowd at Thomond Park Stadium.

They now face Ospreys in the semi final after the Welsh side eeked out a narrow win in Aironi while Leinster take on Ulster in the other semi, the prospect of a Munster/Leinster final looming ever larger.

Munster led 12-6 at the break after tries from Simon Zebo and crowd favourite Alan Quinlan with Ronan O'Gara adding the convert to the latter. Connacht's Ian Keatley, after seeing his first effort deflected wide by the right upright, landed two penalties, the second a massive effort from the half way line.

When play resumed in the second half O'Gara extended the lead with a penalty but they had to wait until the 73rd minute for their next score, a try from that master poacher Doug Howlett who sped onto a delightful kick ahead from Paul Warwick.

In between those scores Connacht, who were committed and competitive throughout, had their chances. Clever interplay on the West Stand touchline had Sean Cronin steaming for the line only to be hauled down just metres short and then Keatley missed a penalty six minutes later that might have given his side impetus at a crucial stage.

Biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Quinlan when he departed the scene in the 72nd minute – making way for Ian Nagle, who later in the night would receive the Young Player of the Year Award at the Irish Examiner sponsored Awards ceremony – the perceived wisdom being that it may have been his last appearance on a stage he has graced for so long.

However, Tony McGahan insists he remains very much a part of immediate Munster plans. "There may potentially be two games remaining and selections will have to be looked at as we move on" he said while the man himself said,"I've only a couple of weeks left with Munster.

"I haven't been involved much of late but I've trained hard and I'll prepare and train as best as I can again next week. If I was to be involved next week I'd be delighted and if I'm not I'll do my best to help the team."

His try in the 38th minute helped his side no end because at that stage they trailed 6-5 coming towards the end of a fairly uninspiring first half that had started brightly from a Munster point of view.

Zebo did extremely well to gather a Johne Murphy kick for a try after just six minutes but Connacht, with the wind at their backs, shook off that setback to take the lead thanks to those two Keatley penalties.

Nor did they throw in the trowel as they faced into a stiffening breeze in the second half. After O'Gara had extended Munster's lead, we had the Cronin moment and then Gavin Duffy touched down after a Troy Nathan break only to be whistled back for an earlier incident involving Johnny O'Connor that lost Connacht the try and earned Munster a penalty on half way.

Just as well maybe because in the lead up to that Duffy 'try' a clear knock on by Fionn Carr was missed by the match officials.

Keatley's subsequent penalty kick ended any hope of a Connacht revival and Munster's lead never looked in any real danger.

Munster: F Jones (P Warwick 45-54; 72 mins); D Howlett, J Murphy, D Barnes, S Zebo (D Hurley 56 min); R O'Gara, T O'Leary (P Stringer 50 min); M Horan (W du Preexz 53 min), M Sherry, J Hayes (S Archer 60 min); D Ryan, P O'Connell (capt); A Quinlan (I Nagle 72 min), N Ronan, D Leamy (T O'Donnell 68 min).

Connacht: G Duffy; B Tuohy, E Griffin, M Nikora, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan, M McCarthy, B Upton; A Browne, J O'Connor (capt), J Muldoon. Replacements: A Flavin, R Loughney, D Rogers, D Nolan, M McComish, C Willis, T Nathan, T O'Halloran.

Referee: David Wilkinson.