Rugby Celtic league/ Munster 37 Ospreys 10: Early days yet, and a 20-match league is a marathon not a sprint, as the sage Declan Kidney was quick to remind us. And yet this at-times-breathtaking dissection of last season's Celtic League champions at least gives Munster the early momentum, whereas this time last year it was they who were playing catch-up.
This was almost a direct reversal of last season, when a full-strength Ospreys ran up a 34-17 win over a Munster outfit shorn of their Irish frontliners.
The Ospreys would go on to win their first seven games, while Munster's winless first three left them with a 10-point deficit, and despite winning 15 of their subsequent 17, they still finished seven points adrift of the Ospreys.
A year on, and already missing half a dozen injured or Lions players, Lynn Jones rested a clutch of his main men with one eye on Tuesday's derby with the Dragons. Munster, not for the first time, were at their most dangerous when coming off a sluggish display, against the Borders and, of course, still harbouring a grudge or two from last season's often-fiery head-to-heads.
Despite missing four of their own Lions, they established dominance up front, their excellent setpieces and lightning-quick ruck allowing Peter Stringer and Paul Burke move the ball out rapidly.
Even then, they were often engulfed by the Ospreys' blitz defence, Burke being gobbled up several times. But he kept his nerve and played flat, and rather than go wide, Munster dissected the Ospreys' midfield clinically.
"In the first half we didn't force it. We put a bit of pace on to the game, which we didn't get last week and just our whole approach was good," enthused Kidney, and the nine-minute spell when Munster ran in three tries was simply breathtaking. The pleasure these excellent scores gave the Munster team and a healthy 5,000-plus crowd was palpable.
"When you're up against that rush defence you just give it to someone else taking a different line," commented captain Anthony Foley. "It's just a matter of changing angles and the boys executed brilliantly. You couldn't ask for anything better."
Tormentor in chief was Anthony Horgan. Looking lean, fit and confident on his season return, in part the by-product of the Irish summer tour to Japan, Horgan's lines of running when coming off his wing on to delayed passes, speed and dancing footwork tore the Ospreys to shreds.
John Kelly, industrious as ever, was a willing accomplice, deservedly feeding off Horgan's running to score the third. And while the fourth was a while coming, Shaun Payne completed the four-try haul for the outside backs.
Denis Leamy's selection alongside Trevor Halstead certainly gave Munster a physical presence in midfield and the converted openside helped create the space for Horgan's opening salvoes with decoy runs. The juggling act also ensured both Leamy and David Wallace have had two games apiece, the latter again showing there is no better ball-carrying forward in Irish rugby.
Not just in the backrow either, for the performances of Trevor Hogan and Mick O'Driscoll, hungrier and better for his Perpignan sojourn, underlined their rich secondrow resources, and Federico Pucciariello looks the pick of all their tight-head signings to date.
Indeed, the forwards' skills in general caught the eye, none more so than Marcus Horan. One retreating, sliding pick-up, rising quickly to sidestep the advancing tackler, would have done justice to Serge Blanco in his pomp.
The Ospreys less-than-whole-hearted approach and selection were the first ripple effects of the Anglo-Welsh Powergen Cup, obliging them to squeeze in an additional League match this Tuesday. Lynn Jones is not a fan of the additional load.
"It's called the Hurricane Powergen and it's just hit south Wales," he said sarcastically of the new competition and described this as the Ospreys' "worst performance since being stuffed by the Cardiff Blues (in 2003)."
To compound Jones's woes, centre David Bishop fractured a leg. They weren't too many positives for the visiting coach but he expressed the hope this might be a timely wake-up call for his team.
Scoring sequence: 4 mins: M Jones 0-3; 11: Burke pen 3-3; 22: Horgan try, Burke con 10-3; 26: Horgan try, Burke con 17-3; 30: Kelly try, Burke pen 27-3 (half-time 27-3); 41: Burke pen 30-3; 69: Payne try, Manning con 37-3; 83: Williams try, Connor con 37-10.
MUNSTER: S Payne; J Kelly, T Halstead, D Leamy, A Horgan; P Burke, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, F Pucciariello; T Hogan, M O'Driscoll; A Quinlan, D Wallace, A Foley (capt). Replacements: J Manning for Burke (63 mins), R Henderson for Foley (70 mins), S Keogh for O'Driscoll, F Murphy for Stringer (both 73 mins), F Roche for Pucciariello, J Flannery for Sheahan (both 75 mins).
OSPREYS: S Terblanche; R Mustoe, D Bishop, L Davies, J Vaughton; M Jones, R Rees; P James, B Williams (capt), A Millward; B Cockbain, L Bateman; L Beach, R Pugh, A Lloyd. Replacements: A Jones for Millward, I Evans for Bateman, S Connor for M Jones (all 49 mins), S Parker for Bishop (53 mins), A Wyn-Jones for Lloyd (65 mins).
Referee: David Changleng (SRU).
