Cardiff were denied a historic first win at Thomond Park but salvaged two bonus-points as Munster battled to a slender 23-20 win in Round Two of the BKT United Rugby Championship. 

The Blue & Blacks escaped the travel chaos that hit the UK and Ireland due to Storm Amy and arrived in Limerick on the back of a bonus-point win over Lions. 

They made a bright start in difficult conditions and led thanks to a Josh Adams try before Munster hit back. 

The lead swung back and fore in the second-half with Tom Bowen claiming a brace but it was the boot of Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley that proved the difference as he added a five-points with the boot following tries from Gavin Coombes and Diarmuid Barron.

Munster led by eight in the closing stages but Cardiff fought to the bitter end and Bowen scorched over for his hat-trick to secure a try-scoring and losing bonus-point.

Cardiff started well at a blustery Thomond Park, coming off the line with physicality and competing hard at the breakdown. 

Much of the opening 10 minutes was spent in the middle of the pitch with a break from Johan Mulder causing the hosts problems but coming to nothing. 

Munster looked to have taken the lead thanks to a moment of brilliance from Jack Crowley. The fly-half chipped over the top and re-gathered before sliding a cross-field grubber to the corner. 

Shane Daly won the race to the bobbling ball but he was met by a thunderous Josh Adams tackle. Momentum looked to have taken the Munster men within inches of the line and referee Griffin Colby went to the TMO with the onfield decision ‘no-try’. 

Television replays showed no reason to overturn the decision but there was a further intervention to highlight contact to the head, with Josh McNally sent to the sin-bin. 

Down to 14-men and with the incident under review, Cardif fought back and they took a deserved lead as the quarter-mark approached. 

After kicking a penalty into Munster territory, Cardiff carried hard to make ground. A second penalty saw Liam Belcher take a tap kick and after the forwards were brought to a halt the ball was moved to the backs. 

Rory Jennings did enough to fix the Munster defence and his floated pass over the top found Sheedy out the back and he threaded a kick to the corner, which Adams collected for his first score of the season. 

Sheedy was unable to add the extras from the touchline with a swirling wind and Munster rallied.

They ventured into Cardiff territory on numerous occasions, but the likes of Dan Thomas, Alex Mann and Johan Mulder contributed with turnovers and key moments to survive the yellow card period unscathed, with McNally returning. 

Munster did however hit back after Cardiff were harshly penalised for their reaction when Munster number eight Gavin Coombes appeared to drop a knee on Dan Thomas. 

The hosts kicked deep into the Cardiff half and after a succession of phases from left to right, the Blue and Blacks ran out of numbers and Ruadhán Quinn slid over.

Crowley missed from wide, but the scores were now level at 30 minutes. 

Cardiff piled on the pressure in the closing stages of the half and a cynical hand through the ruck saw Coombes sin-binned.

The Blue & Blacks opted for a scrum, with their set-piece dominating, but after failing to get a nudge on, they went wide, and a loose pass saw the opportunity lost. 

Munster cleared their lines from the scrum, and the scores were level 5-5 at the interval. 

Cardiff made a blistering start to the half and took the lead three minutes after the restart. 

A Danny Southworth break laid the foundations after Munster overthrew a lineout on the half-way line. The momentum was maintained as a tip pass from Teddy Williams put Liam Belcher into the Munster 22. 

A pair of slap passes from Sheedy first released Adams on an arcing run and then put Bowen over in the corner. 

The fly-half’s touchline attempt again sailed wide in difficult conditions but Cardiff had their noses in front. 

However, Coombes powered over from close range on 52 minutes and Crowley slotted the simple conversion to give his side a slender 12-10 lead.

Cardiff were undeterred and they roared into the lead just four minutes later. The opportunity was built on the fundamentals with a clever kick from Sheedy and pressure from Adams forcing Crowley into a mistake. 

The Blue & Blacks went on the attack, and they almost unlocked the hosts’ defence in fortuitous circumstances when Bowen broke and kicked ahead with the ball bouncing into the path of Mulder. 

They maintained composure and an offload off the floor created space with Teddy Williams finding Sheedy, who again grubbered to the corner for Bowen to collect while airborne for a stunning finish. 

With Sheedy receiving treatment, Jacob Beetham attempted the conversion, but he also failed to manage the gale force Limerick winds.

Cardiff now held a slender three-point lead but they failed to secure the restart and ended up with lineout on their own five metre line. Under immense pressure, Cardiff just about won the lineout but Mulder knocked on. 

Munster sensed blood and minutes later Diarmuid Barron was driven over from close-range.

Crowley fired wide but he made amends with a penalty on 66 minutes to give his side a five-point lead.

The Ireland fly-half slotted a drop goal to make it an eight-point lead with full-time approach and cruelly deny Cardiff anything.

But Cardiff refused to throw in the towel and Bowen ensured they left Limerick with two important points.