O’Gara kicked 19 points while Cullen ran in another two tries as the Irish side tuned up for the Heineken Cup

In all the home side chalked up five tries with debutant Paul Devlin also on the score sheet. However it was the Blues who opened in style with two tries from Craig Quinnell and Kort Schubert in the first 15 minutes to silence the Thomond park crowd

Five first-class O’Gara kicks, including the conversion of Cullen’s first effort, put a gloss on a disappointing first half for Munster, which they edged 19-15.

Cullen then cemented his reputation as the competition’s leading try scorer as he out paced Rhys Williams for his sides first score with O’Gara’s conversion putting Munster 13-12 in front before Lee Thomas and O’Gara exchanged penalties before the break.

Within 90 seconds of the restart the Ireland number 10 had pushed the advantage to seven points. Former skipper Jim Williams then added Munster’s second try and while a second Thomas penalty kept the Blues in the hunt Munster were soon stretching clear as first Devlin and then Cullen touched down

The Kiwi full back capped his man-of-the-match display as he drove over a 68th minute drop goal, while a late Rob Henderson try confirmed Munster’s rise to fourth in the table.