Munster have suffered a shock bonus point defeat to Edinburgh in their opening Heineken Cup fixture. The Scottish side triumphed by a score of 29-23 at Murrayfield with Grieg Laidlaw proving the match winner as he scored 19 from the boot.

Edinburgh were off to a flying start, with Matt Scott getting over the line after just 5 minutes. Greig Laidlaw’s conversion hit the post but still went over to give the hosts an early seven point lead.

It continued to go Edinburgh’s way in the opening fifteen minutes as Laidlaw added another three points. It took an Ian Keatley penalty to get Munster on the scoreboard and that was soon followed by a Casey Laulala try on nineteen minutes, which tied the game at 10 – 10.

Laidlaw knocked another three penalties over while Mike Sherry crossed the line for Munster’s second try. The sides went in at half-time with Edinburgh in front by a score of 19 – 17.

Two penalties from Keatley get Munster back on top early in the second half but a try from Tim Visser saw the game swing towards the hosts again. Laidlaw added the conversion before scoring another penalty shortly after to leave Munster behind by 6.

The afternoon took a depressing turn for Munster when Simon Zebo went off with an ankle injury. Early reports suggest it may be an achilles problem for the Ireland winger.

Laidlaw struck a late penalty off the bar and Munster attempted to surge forward from the collected rebound, but it was to prove futile and a James Cronin knock on sealed a hugely disappointing defeat for Penney’s side.