Home comforts for Connacht as Munster downed in Galway

Connacht put a tough three weeks on the road behind them as they finished with a flourish to edge a tense derby with Munster and pick up their first win of the season.

Tries from Ireland internationals Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham and a late effort from Paul Boyle ensured a winning return to Galway for Andy Friend's side in front of a raucous 7,512 crowd.

Munster led 8-5 at the end of a cagey, intermittent first half that was constantly interrupted by scrum resets and water breaks, Patrick Campbell producing a spectacular finish to score their only try on 24 minutes, and they extended their lead to six points after the restart through the boot of Ben Healy.

The cageyness continued in the second period, both teams cheaply giving away possession and their back threes struggling under the high ball, while returning Connacht captain Jack Carty left 12 points behind him with three errant kicks at goal.

When Connacht were awarded another penalty inside range, Carty handed duties over to Conor Fitzgerald and the full-back made no mistake to give Connacht a lead they would not relinquish, with replacement Boyle bagging a third try at the death.

After their struggles on the road, Connacht were seeking some home comforts on their new all-weather pitch and they got off to a dream start when Hansen crossed for the opening try inside nine minutes.

Two scrum penalties propelled the hosts into the Munster 22 and a big carry from the excellent David Hawkshaw got them to within metres of the line.

Playing advantage after Munster were caught offside, Carty floated an inch-perfect pass out wide which caught out Joey Carbery and put his Ireland team-mate Hansen in for his first try of the season.

Carty's conversion hit the left post, as did a