They taught us a lesson - Jones

DRAGONS coach Kingsley Jones is hopeful his men can get a first away win of the season when they take on Connacht next weekend.

But he admits they need to step up after shipping six tries in Cork on Friday night.

It was Munster’s fourteenth victory in 15 games, and despite tries from Sam Hobbs and Elliott Dee, Dragons fell to their tenth PRO12 defeat of the season.

Jones said: “They gave us a lesson about high-level rugby. They didn’t do anything flash; they squeeze you with line speed, put you under pressure, wait for a mistake and punish you.”

Springbok Jaco Taute scored twice for Munster, while Andrew Conway, Dave Kilcoyne and Ronan O’Mahony also touched down along with a penalty try.

Both sides had players yellow-carded either side of half-time - Carl Meyer for Dragons and Darren O’Shea for Munster - but Munster built on their 31-10 half-time lead to win.

Early tries from Taute and Conway gave Munster the initiative, and Taute’s second in the 28th minute gave Munster a 24-3 lead.

Hobbs scored a consolation but a penalty try, when Meyer saw yellow for deliberately knocking-on by his own try-line, to put the game beyond Dragons.

Dragons scored next through Dee after O’Shea got yellow for a shoulder charge on Dorian Jones, but Munster were comfortable. No.8 Jack O’Donoghue was instrumental, and Kilcoyne and O’Mahony added further tries.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said: “It was good to keep the winning run going but we still have a long way to go.”