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Keith Earls scored the only try as Munster moved into second place in the Pro12 table by beating their great Irish rivals Leinster at Thomond Park.

Earls collected a pinpoint cross field kick by fly-half Ian Keatley to get over close in the right corner.

The move came as a result of the incident which saw Leinster fly-half Ian Madigan sin-binned for cynically ending a potential try-scoring chance.

Madigan and his opposite number Keatley each landed four penalties.

The victory over last season's Pro12 and Amlin Challenge Cup winners will be a boost for Munster, who had got the better of Leinster on only two occasions in the last 11 meetings.

In a low-key opening, two Madigan kicks had Leinster six points up, with Keatley halving the deficit with his second attempt at the posts.

Madigan was sin-binned in the 32nd minute for blatantly coming in from the side at a ruck to scupper a promising Munster position deep in Leinster territory.

The home side opted to kick the penalty in the corner, a move which paid off as it led to Keatley's kick, which found winger Earls who dodged Rob Kearney to score near the right corner.

Keatley added the conversion to put Munster into a 10-6 lead.

With Madigan serving his punishment on the sidelines, Fergus McFadden landed the penalty which left it a one-point game at the interval.

Munster regained their four-point lead through another Keatley kick after Leinster were penalised for not releasing the tackled player.

But Leinster hit back to lead through two Madigan penalties, the second met with jeers from the Limerick crowd after the decision that Simon Archer had deliberately blocked.

However, when Sean Cronin was ruled to have not released the ball, Kealtey slotted over his third penalty for 16-15 to Munster.

A superb effort at a scrum by Munster forced the penalty which saw man-of-the-match Keatley land the kick which gave Munster a four-point lead.

Leinster suffered a blow when they lost Lote Tuqiri, who deputised for the injured O'Driscoll at outside centre, to a hamstring injury

Munster: Jones, Earls, Laulala, Downey, Zebo, Keatley, Williams, Kilcoyne, Sherry, Archer, D Ryan, O'Connell, P O'Mahony, Ronan, Coughlan.

Replacements: Hurley for Jones (68), Murray for Williams (53), Cronin for Kilcoyne (55), Varley for Sherry (55), Botha for Archer (68), Stander for P. O'Mahony (41), D O'Callaghan for Ronan (68).

Not used: Hanrahan.

Leinster: R Kearney, McFadden, Tuqiri, D'Arcy, D Kearney, Madigan, Reddan, Healy, S. Cronin, Ross, McCarthy, Toner, K. McLaughlin, O'Brien, J Heaslip.

Replacements: Fitzgerald for McFadden (55), Gopperth for Tuqiri (74), Boss for Reddan (55), J McGrath for Healy (64), Dundon for S. Cronin (68), Moore for Ross (68), Ryan for O'Brien (64).

Not used: Ruddock.

Ref: Romain Poite (France).

Att: 20,646