Munster took an early lead when outside-half Jeremy Manning slotted a second minute penalty, but it was Tigers who dominated for the majority of the match.
Pat Howard's side signalled their intentions when Paul Burke turned down a similar chance of three points - the Irishman choosing to kick to the corner and keep the visitors on the front foot. Unfortunately, the move came to nothing, as Tigers first lost possession via a knock-on, before giving a way a penalty that allowed Munster the chance to clear their lines.
Tigers registered their first points of the evening with eight and a half minutes on the clock, when Geordan Murphy burst through a tackle to finish off a patient move. Sam Vesty swapped passes with Tom Varndell after confidently taking a high ball, before making yards down the left hand touchline. Tigers then moved the ball right, with Daryl Gibson running hard and finding Louis Deacon in space. After the lock was dragged down 10 yards from the line, the ball was eventually recycled, allowing Burke to find Vesty who supplied the scoring pass for the British and Irish Lion.
Burke added a well-struck conversion to give Tigers a 7-3 lead.
Tigers scored their second try on 21 minutes when Murphy again finished off a classy team move. Burke fed Danny Hipkiss who supplied a deft inside ball to the onrushing Varndell approaching halfway. Varndell drew the last defender before firing a superb fifteen yard pass to his fellow wingman, Murphy, who cantered in from 30 yards out.
Munster were next on the scoresheet when Manning rolled over from two yards out with 27 minutes played. Former All Black Christian Cullen chased down Manning's chip before the fly-half pounced on the loose ball after Varndell, who had seemingly rescued the situation, had been left isolated. Manning made it a seven point score when he sent the conversion straight through the uprights.
The Munster number 10 then brought his side to within a point of the visitors as his straight-forward penalty took the score to 14-13 after 32 minutes.
The European champions continued to press forward with renewed enthusiasm, leaving Tigers with Hipkiss to thank for preventing a second Munster score. The Leicester outside centre had already shown plenty of promise on the attack, before winning a foot race with left wing Ian Dowling to prevent a certain try.
Tigers then found themselves down to 14 men on the stroke of half-time, as referee David Keane showed Italian international prop Martin Castrogiovanni a yellow card for an offence at a ruck. A minute later, Manning's long-range penalty attempt fell just short, to leave Pat Howard's side with a one-point lead at the interval.
Despite being a man short, Tigers started the second half in positive manner as Hipkiss' flight of foot led to Vesty breaking through the home defence, only to be the victim of a high tackle as he dived for the line.
The ensuing penalty saw captain Gibson opt for the corner instead of the posts - a decision that paid immediate dividends when replacement Seru Rabeni fended off Cullen to cross ten metres in from the right hand touchline. Vesty again demonstrated his play-making abilities as he provided the final pass for the Fijian winger after the Tigers pack had created the initial space with a persistent driving maul. This time, Burke was off-target with the conversion attempt.
Louis Deacon and Federico Pucciariello were then yellow carded following a messy punch up.
Tigers came close to adding another score four minutes later, after Matt Cornwell sent a swift long pass to Vesty who sliced through the midfield before attempting to find Rabeni with a cleverly weighted grubber. Rabeni was narrowly beaten to the ball by the last defender, who cleared to touch five yards from his own line.
Tigers then scored the try of the match on 62 minutes, as Vesty was rewarded for his evening's efforts. Replacement fly-half Andy Goode put in a measured flat pass to the drifting Gibson, who found Cornwell with a well-judged inside ball. The England U-21 captain then showed superb slight of hand to immediately feed Vesty, who timed his run to perfection, before showing the Munster cover a clean pair of heels. Goode added the simple conversion to give Tigers a 13 point lead at 26-13.
It was Munster who had the last word however, as back-row James Coughlan crashed over with a minute remaining to give the final scoreline an air of respectability at 26-18.
Leicester Tigers:
15 Sam Vesty
14 Geordan Murphy
13 Dan Hipkiss
12 Daryl Gibson (captain)
11 Tom Varndell
10 Paul Burke
9 Harry Ellis
8 Henry Tuilagi
7 Shane Jennings
6 Jordan Crane
5 Louis Deacon
4 Leo Cullen
3 Julian White
2 George Chuter
1 Martin Castrogiovanni
Replacements:
Gavin Hickie
Dave Young
Alex Moreno
James Hamilton
Tom Croft
Frank Murphy
Andy Goode
Matt Cornwell
Seru Rabeni
Munster:
15. C Cullen
14. J Kelly
13. T Gleeson
12. J Downey
11. I Dowling
10. J Manning
9. C Delooze
8. J O'Sullivan
7. B Cutteriss
6. J Coughlan
5. D Ryan
4. C Wyatt
3. F Pucciariello
2. F Sheahan
1. E McGovern
Replacements:
T Ryan
S Cronin
D Ryan
R Noonan
S O'Connor
T O'Leary
S Payne
M Lawlor
E Hickey
C O'Boyle
Referee: David Keane (IRFU)
Touch judges: Alan Rogan and Ken Henley-Willis (both IRFU)
Tigers face Sale Sharks at Welford Road on Sunday September 3, kick-off 4pm, in their opening Guinness Premiership fixture of the season. Following Sale's failure to sell their ticket allocation, a few tickets are sill available from the Tigers ticket office or through the telephone hotline on 08701 28 34 30.
