Munster three from three in PRO14 after gritty win at Ospreys

MUNSTER made it three wins from three at the start of the new Guinness PRO14 with a gritty 21-16 victory over the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

First-half tries from Jean Kleyn and Darren Sweetnam was enough for Munster as they battled past a gutsy Ospreys to stay top of Conference A of the new-look PRO14.

Munster have won eight of the last nine meetings with Ospreys, while the irish province has also won each of their last 9 away fixtures in the Guinness PRO14.

James Hook scythed through Munster's defence to open the try-scoring, but the visitors dominated the rest of the opening period.

Munster took advantage with well-worked tries by Kleyn and Sweetnam.

Sam Davies kicked Ospreys back into contention, but Tyler Bleyendaal's boot kept the hosts at bay.

OSPREYS: Dan Evans; Keelan Giles, Cory Allen, James Hook, Jeff Hassler; Sam Davies, Tom Habberfield; Paul James, Sam Parry, Ma'afu Fia, Bradley Davies, Lloyd Ashley, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric (capt), Dan Baker. Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Guy Mercer, Matthew Aubrey, Dan Biggar, Kieron Fonotia.

MUNSTER: Andrew Conway; Darren Sweetnam, Chris Farrell, Jaco Taute, Alex Wootton; Tyler Bleyendaal (capt), Duncan Williams; Liam O'Connor, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland; Sean O'Connor, Tommy O'Donnell, Jack O'Donoghue. Replacements: Niall Scannell, James Cronin, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Robin Copeland, James Hart, Rory Scannell, Simon Zebo.

REFEREE: Stuart Berry (South Africa)