An injury time try from winger Tal Selley gave the home side a 25-22 win at the Arms Park on Saturday evening.
Munster led after 50 seconds of play with Shaun Payne touching down and Paul Warwick converting to give Munster a dream start. Seven minutes later Ben Blair opened the scoring for Cardiff Blues with a successful penalty kick. A 24th minute try from Cardiff’s Rhy Thomas put them 8-7 ahead, but Munster regained held the lead at half time after Paul Warwick’s 36th minute penalty found its mark.
Munster’s second try came from a charging run by Tony Buckley after 47 minutes to go 15-8 ahead, however four minutes later Blair was on target to bring the home side just four points behind. Captain Paul O’Connell charged over for Munster’s third try at the 60 minute mark, with Warwick’s conversion putting Munster 22-11 in front. Twelve minutes later a break by Gareth Thomas saw Jamie Roberts touch down in the right hand corner, with Blair converting to reduce the margin to just four points again.
Despite some outstanding defensive work by Munster in the last ten minutes, Tal Selley found a gap in the last play of the game and touched down to clinch the win, with Blair’s conversion giving Cardiff Blues a 25-22 victory.
Munster: S Payne; B Carney, K Lewis, L Mafi, D Howlett; P Warwick, P Stringer; F Pucciariello, F Sheahan, T Buckley; D Ryan, P O’Connell (Captain); A Quinlan, N Ronan, A Foley.
Cardiff Blues: B Blair; T Selley, J Robinson, G Thomas, J Roberts; R Jones, R Rees; J Yapp, R Thomas, G Powell, D Jones, P Tito, M Molitika, X Rush, M Williams.