MUNSTER 37 STADE FRANCAIS PARIS 32

Munster stormed into a record fifth Heineken Cup semi-final in a row with five-point victory over Stade Francais Paris at Thomond Park.

Both sides scored four tries, with fly-half Ronan O'Gara kicking 17 points in a polished performance in front of a packed crowd who cheered their team's every move.

Munster got off to the perfect start, with former All Black fullback Christian Cullen joining the backline and providing winger Shaun Payne with the try-scoring pass after only two minutes. O'Gara slotted a superb sideline conversion, and added a penalty goal to take the home side out to a 10-0 lead after barely five minutes.

The packed Thomond Park crowd hardly had time to find their seats when winger John Kelly chipped through for centre Rob Henderson to score, but Stade hit back from the kick-off as Argentinian fullback Ignacio Corleto galloped over the tryline from 40 metres.

Diego Dominguez's conversion dragged the score back to 17-7, with 24 points being scored in the game's opening 13 minutes.

The scoring slowed as the teams settled into their rhythms, but Munster put one foot into the semi-finals when centre Mike Mullins scored and O'Gara converted to give the home side a 14-point lead at halftime.

The French club hit straight back in the second half when South African-born centre Brian Liebenberg reached out to dot down and silence Thomond Park. Dominguez's conversion narrowed the margin to seven points, but it lasted barely seven seconds when Munster prop Marcus Horan - who was having a storminggame - ran in a stunning try from 35 metres.

Dominguez's deadly boot pegged back a penalty goal, before hookers FrankSheahan (Munster) and Mathieu Blin were sin-binned for fighting. They had barely left the field when replacement backrower Christophe Moni brought Stade back into the match with a try in the corner. Dominguez's sideline conversion hit the post to leave the score at 25-31.

Man of the match O'Gara gave his side some breathing space with his second and third penalty goals and Munster held on for a hard-fought victory, despite a late try to visiting winger Thomas Lombard.

Munster: Tries - S Payne, R Henderson, M Mullins, M Horan; Pens - R O'Gara 3; Cons - R O'Gara 4.
Stade Francais Paris: Tries - I Corleto, B Liebenberg, C Moni, T Lombard; Pen - D Dominguez; DG - D Dominguez; Cons - D Dominguez 3. Halftime: Munster 24-10.

Heineken man of the match: Ronan O'Gara (Munster)

Munster: C Cullen; J Kelly, M Mullins, R Henderson, S Payne; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, J Williams (capt), D Wallace, A Foley Replacements: J Flannery, G McIlwham, D Pusey, S Keogh, E Reddan, J Holland, A Horgan,

Stade Francais: I Corleto; T Lombard, J Hernandez, B Liebenberg, C Dominici; D Dominguez, G Mahe; S Marconnet, B August, P De Villiers, D Auradou, M James, P Tabacco, R Martin, P Rabadan
Replacements: M Blin, P Lemoine, A Marchois, C Moni, R Poulain/S Glas, D Skrela, I Vass, Referee: Nigel Williams (Wales)