Edinburgh Rugby provided a stinging response to their critics and gave head coach Sean Everitt some much-needed breathing space with a massive 34-28 win over Munster in Cork. Centre-turned winger Matt Currie scored a hat-trick and Edinburgh's dominant pack earned a whopping eight scrum penalties as Edinburgh recorded their first away win of the season in emphatic style at Virgin Media Park. Edinburgh were pilloried after a shock home defeat by Zebre two weeks ago and were expected to struggle at Munster, but they showed maturity and strength to inflict a first defeat in Cork on Munster since 2019. They have moved back into the top eight and have revived their URC play-off hopes. Edinburgh suffered an injury blow just four minutes in when Scotland back row Luke Crosbie had to be replaced by Hamish Watson. However, the visitors got the opening points of the game two minutes later when Ross Thompson kicked a long-range penalty following strong pressure from the capital forwards in the scrum. Munster got their revenge in the set-piece on nine minutes when Edinburgh prop Boan Venter collapsed a scrum and the hosts kicked for touch, working the ball through the phases in the shadow of the visitors' posts. But Edinburgh held firm and warded off the danger. It was only temporary. Edinburgh's desperate defence was breached on 15 minutes when Munster's New Zealand-born centre Alex Nankivell bulldozed over. Billy Burns added the extras. Edinburgh's response was admirable. On 25 minutes, Ben Muncaster showed great power and pace and fed the ball inside to Thompson, who crossed under the posts. The stand-off pinged the conversion and Everitt's men led 10-7. They were in Cork dreamland at the half-hour mark. Once again Edinburgh dominated the scrum and while Ben Vellacott's kick towards the tryline was more speculative than any else, Munster winger Shay McCarthy completely misjudged the bounce of the ball and Currie was able to touch down right in the corner. Thompson landed the tricky conversion and Edinburgh had a 17-7 advantage. Currie bagged his second try of the night on 35 minutes, with Edinburgh again profiting from dominance in the scrum as the converted winger scampered in at the corner. Thompson could not convert but they had a sizeable 22-7 lead. The visitors were not done in a barnstorming first half. From a lineout, Currie scythed through the flailing Munster defence and offloaded to Magnus Bradbury to grab the try-scoring bonus point before the first 40 minutes were out. Thompson's conversion made it 29-7 at the break. Munster came out looking for a swift response but Edinburgh won two scrum penalties within eight minutes of the restart. But the Irish side got a toehold in the second half, with Nankivell showing his power again by charging through on 51 minutes. Burns kicked the extras and Edinburgh led 29-14. Edinburgh earned yet another scrum penalty and worked the play to land Currie his hat-trick, capitalising on slack Munster defending to cross in the corner. Thompson's kick was wide. Ben O'Connor got Munster's third try of the night just after the hour mark and replacement Tony Butler landed the conversion to spark home hopes for a grandstand comeback. And while Edinburgh - down to 14 men after Paddy Harrison's yellow card for a high tackle - did concede a last-gasp converted try to Sean O'Brien that gave the hosts two bonus points, the visitors celebrated a big away win.