Munster booked their place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a stunning demolition of Sale which lifted them above the Guinness Premiership leaders in the final Pool One standings.

The Sharks only needed a bonus point to top the group while victory would have guaranteed them home advantage in the last eight, but instead they left Limerick grateful they had already done enough to qualify for the knockout stages.

Not for the first time Munster sent English rugby's top club packing with memories of Gloucester's bitter defeat at Thomond Park three years coming racing back.

Gloucester, who travelled to Ireland as the Premiership larders, needed only to avoid defeat by 26 points to reach the quarter finals but ended up losing by 27 as their nightmare scenario became reality.

Once again Munster, who fielded an all-Ireland international pack, proved invincible on home soil as they defended their unbeaten Heineken Cup record at Thomond Park for the 23rd time.

Anthony Foley, Ian Dowling, Barry Murphy and David Wallace crossed while the assured Ronan O'Gara kicked 11 points as Munster reached the tournament's knockout stages for the eighth consecutive season.

Sale struggled to create any momentum with their main ball carriers Andrew Sheridan and Sebastien Chabal frequently stopped dead in their tracks by some ferocious home defence.

Chabal, the powerful French number eight, was shoved back on several occasions while his opposite number Foley was immense in a dominant Munster back row.

Foley was named in Ireland's squad for the 2006 RBS 6 Nations on Tuesday and on tonight's evidence the veteran back row could be set for a recall after being dropped for the November internationals.

As expected tonight's contest proved a shuddering collision with the tone set as early as the fourth minute when Andrew Sheridan and Peter Stringer tussled off the ball, sparking a mass brawl.

Any number of players could have been punished but referee Joel Jutge opted to send Sale lock Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe to the sin bin for his tangle with Jerry Flannery, although the Munster hooker stayed on the pitch.

O'Gara slotted the penalty before Sale drew level with three points from Hodgson, but the visitors were under tremendous pressure from the ensuing kick off which Sebastien Chabal caught only to be shoved back nearly 20 yards by the onrushing Munster pack.

The Sharks retained possession but Hodgson sliced his clearance, giving Munster a short range line-out which was slickly won and driven over with Foley emerging from the pile of bodies.

O'Gara landed the conversion but a Hodgson penalty reduced the deficit and began a bright spell for the English club.

Sheridan and Cueto were prominent as they swept to within five metres of Munster's line but valiant home defence and a poorly executed chip from Daniel Larrechea ended the danger.

Sale were winning plenty of ball but made some uncharacteristic mistakes with Chabal knocking on in the tackle and Mark Cueto giving possession away with a poor kick to the corner.

Centre Elvis Seveali'i was replaced by Epi Taione as a bruising contest claimed its first victim and in the 29th minute Munster extended their lead.

Clever work from O'Gara created an overlap for Dowling who rode Mark Taylor's desperate cover tackle before crashing over and television match official Gerard Borreani confirmed the score.

O'Gara slotted the two points before both teams were reduced to 14 men seven minutes later with Sale's Chris Jones and Marcus Horan of Munster yellow carded for fighting.

The two-time Heineken Cup finalists has assumed full control and underlined their superiority by running in a third try through outside centre Murphy.

O'Gara's clearance kick was blocked but fell into the arms of Murphy who set off from deep inside his own half and romped home with Sale's indecisive cover defence failing to produce a tackle until he had reached the line.

A tricky touchline conversion faced O'Gara but he made no mistake and Sale replied with a Hodgson penalty deep into first half injury time, slashing Munster's interval lead to 24-9.

The opening of the second half was marked by a kicking game which Munster edged and they continued to get all the breaks as the match drifted into the final quarter.

Munster nearly crossed through a catch and drive but were held up a couple of yards short of the line, and then it was Sale's turn to attack.

They moved into several promising positions but could not make the breakthrough, allowing Munster to show them how it is done with their fourth try a minute into injury time.

O'Gara's slick handling sent openside Wallace charging over for the touch down which secured the bonus point and sent Munster top of the table. Inevitably O'Gara converted to complete the rout.