FORGET talk of finishers in the closing stages, it was fait accompli by the time the benches were emptied at Musgrave Park as Newport Gwent Dragons comprehensively failed to stun Guinness PRO12 leaders Munster.

The men in red showed the depth of their squad with an impressive 45-17 success to make it 13 wins from 14 in all competitions after romping to their bonus point inside 40 minutes.

Tries by centre Jaco Taute (2), full-back Andrew Conway and a penalty try secured the five-point haul for the Munstermen before they headed for the warmth of their changing room on a perishing night in Cork.

That meant the Dragons were left playing for pride rather than to end their miserable PRO12 away streak, which now stands at 21 games and runs back to Treviso in March, 2015.

The second half was 'only' 14-7 but nothing masked the shortcomings that need to be put right in Galway next Saturday.

Kingsley Jones' side, ever the optimists, travelled with the belief of ending their barren run and with memories of stunning Leinster in Dublin during the Six Nations two years ago.

However, they were always on the back foot and failed to stay in the fight despite some belligerent defence from flankers Ollie Griffiths and Nic Cudd.

With trips to champions Connacht and title hopefuls Glasgow coming up, the Dragons desperately need some inspiration on the road, or perhaps just some outrageous luck.

Confidence is a wonderful thing and Munster started impressively with direct running in the 22, settling for a sixth-minute penalty from the boot of fly-half and captain Tyler Bleyendaal after a judo throw by Tyler Morgan.

But the Wales centre was then to the fore with a super break after gathering Dorian Jones' neat chip over the top, showing power and pace the burst into the 22 and force a Munster infringement that allowed his fly-half to level.

Not for long. Munster were straight back on the attack and this time their reward was seven points with centre Jaco Taute going over, Dragons wing Hughes left covering two men, after the forwards had hammered their way to the line.

At 10-3 the visitors needed to strike and it looked like they would when they went on the charge in the 22… but rather than levelling they went 14 points behind.

Bleyendaal intercepted and then, realising he didn't have the pace to go the distance, hacked the ball on for full-back Andrew Conway to win the foot race with Dorian Jones.

The fly-half added his second conversion after a moment that makes you believe in an away curse.

It got worse and after incessant pressure on the line, with penalties kicked to the corner, Taute barged his way over for a third and a 24-3 lead with less than half an hour gone.

The Dragons rallied and deservedly crossed themselves when hooker Rhys Buckley went over from a driving lineout with three minutes of the first period to go.

However, full-back Carl Meyer then had a nightmare few moments as Munster snuffed out any away hopes.

The South African got some evil looks from his pack after flinging a wild pass into touch 10 metres out just as the Dragons were hoping to lick their wounds at 14 points down.

With the clock in the red, Munster scented blood and after a series of strong scrums Meyer was pinged for a deliberate knock-on down the left flank, an offence that saw him yellow-carded and a penalty try awarded.

At 31-10 down the Dragons were tasked with playing for pride after the resumption and they had to show tenacity to prevent their line being crossed for a fifth time by a Munster side who had clearly been warned about complacency by boss Rassie Erasmus.

The visitors had a chance to enjoy some pressure when Darren O'Shea was sin-binned for a dangerous clear-out after 55 minutes and they took their opportunity with a second driving lineout, Elliot Dee mirroring Buckley.

Jones' conversion made it 31-17 and there was the potential for the burglary of a bonus point only for 14-man Munster to go straight on the attack and add a fifth through prop Dave Kilcoyne.

Dragons wing Pat Howard went close with a terrific break against his former side – and had he gone over for a try of the season contender there would have been a shot at a four-try consolation in a heavy loss like in Cork two years ago – but instead it was the other 11 that had the final say, Ronan O'Mahony racing over from a loose kick at the death.

Munster: A Conway (D Goggin 31), D Sweetnam (F Saili 54), J Taute (A Griesel 73), R Scannell, R O'Mahony, T Bleyendaal (captain), D Williams, D Kilcoyne (P McCabe 70), R Marshall (K O'Byrne 58), S Archer (B Scott 55), J Kleyn (C Oliver 51), D Foley (D O'Shea 25), D O'Callaghan, T O'Donnell, J O'Donoghue.

Scorers: tries – J Taute (2), A Conway, penalty, D Kilcoyne, R O'Mahony; conversions – T Bleyendaal (6); penalty – T Bleyendaal

Yellow card: D O'Shea

Dragons: C Meyer, A Hughes, T Morgan, A Warren (S Beard 60), P Howard, D Jones (A O'Brien 60), T Knoyle (S Pretorius 60), S Hobbs (T Davies 62), R Buckley (E Dee 51), B Harris (L Fairbrother 62), M Screech (N Crosswell 52), R Landman, O Griffiths, N Cudd (H Keddie 68), L Evans (captain).

Scorers: tries – R Buckley, E Dee; conversions – D Jones (2); penalty – D Jones

Yellow card: C Meyer

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Argus star man: Ollie Griffiths