SALE Sharks' Heineken Cup hopes were swept aside in savage fashion by a raging sea of red in Limerick tonight.

A six-try mauling from holders Munster not only ended Sale's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals, it also exposed the gaping chasm between being challengers and contenders at this rareified level.

In part, Sale were architicts of their own painful downfall, commiting a series of needless errors and seeing too many of their big-name performers failed to stamp their mark on the game.

But in truth this was as devastating a result as any in Philippe Saint-Andre's illustrious reign and a brutal way for the departing Frenchman's European dreams to be ground to dust.

No-one from Edgeley Park had expected it to be easy.

After all, Munster have made a habit of welcoming the cream of English rugby to their Limerick stamping ground in mid-January for the best part of a decade.

And with one notable exception, the shock triumph of Leicester Tigers here three years ago, the visitors have to a man been sent packing back across the Irish Sea with their tails firmly between their legs.

However, there was a theory that since taking the wraps of their re-vamped Thomond Park last October, the cloak of invincibility and legend that surrounded the famous old ground had been dented, a theory that had gained currency following the Munstermen's shock defeat here at the hands of Ulster a fortnight ago.

Try telling that to Saint-Andre's shell-shocked troops after tonight's rout, not to mention the 3,000-strong visiting army from Edgeley Park who bore witness to the passion and ferocity that the Heineken Cup brings out in Tony McGahan's side.

If anything, the experience was even more chastening than Sale's sole other visit to the province - back in 2006 when they were on the wrong end of a 31-9 thumping - and the consequences of last night's result were far more damaging, ending their quarter-final hopes and rendering next week's tie with Clermont Auvergne little more than an academic exercise.

Stand up and fight runs the Munstermen's motto and the reigning champions proved as good as their creed by mounting a blitzkrieg opening assault.

Having made the brighter start, Sale were rocked on their heels by Munster's very first attack. Centre Keith Earls powerfully broke through Sale's midfield and as the marauding men in red surged forward through some swift handling, their captain fantastic Paul O'Connell bulldozed through the Sharks defence to touchdown.

It was the worst possible start for the visitors and though Charlie Hodgson then spurned the chance to narrow the lead by missing a sixth-minute penalty he made amends two minutes later.

But having punctured Sale's watertight defence so early, the hosts and reigning champions were living up to their motto and with their second attack, they scored again with a superbly worked score, finished off in the right corner by bulldog of a hooker Jerry Flannery.

With Ronan O'Gara converting, the Sharks' already herculean task had just got a whole lot harder, a task not helped by Hodgson's second penalty miss out of three.

Having been rocked on their heels, Sale were then given some precious breathing space when Flannery was yellow carded for a blatant trip on Marc Jones.

With Hodgson's radar all at sea, Luke McAlister took over with the boot made no mistake with his 19th-minute penalty to narrow the deficit to 12-6.

But though having a man advantage helped Saint-Andre's men stem the bleeding, they were unable to rise off their sick bed and indeed could have conceded a third try on 26 minutes had Earls not needlessly produced a forward pass when Munster enjoyed a two-man overlap on the left wing.

In a ferocious battle, Sale at least gave as good as they got upfront though conceding three turnovers in the first-half alone stopped their momentum in its tracks.

However, any hopes the Sharks had of stemming the red tide were all but blown away 30 seconds after the re-start when David Wallace took full advantage of some gaping holes in the Sale defence to crash over for Munster's third try, O'Gara again converting.

But the 50th-minute introduction of scrum-half Dwayne Peel reinvigorated the Sharks in sudden and dramatic fashion. Taking a trademark quick tap penalty, the Welshman stormed through the Munster backline, off-loading to compatriot Eifion Roberts who charged through two tackles before sending Hodgson clear in the left wing for a stunning try.

Though McAlister missed the conversion, at 19-14 it should have been game on as fear and doubt threatened to creep into the hosts.

Instead, on 56 minutes, disaster struck as Hodgson's defensive frailites were cruelly exposed at the most inopportune of moments, the former England fly-half making a hash of O'Gara's hopeful punt five metres out from the Sharks line, allowing Ian Dowling the softest of tries, the fourth of the night for Munster, to earn them a precious bonus point.

It was a hammer blow and as the rain began to pour and The Field of Athenry started booming around this corner of southern Ireland, Stockport suddenly seemed a long, long way away.

Another score seemed inevitable and it arrived with 14 minutes left, scrum-half Tomas O'Leary running in unchallenged from a five metre scrum.

Full-back Paul Warwick then heaped further embarasment on Sale by running in unchallenged from 25 metres to record Munster's sixth try before ending the humiliation with an 80th minute penalty.

“I think one needs to congratulate Munster. When you concede six tries against a team, it is not good,” said Sale's director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre

“Munster played a lot of the good rugby tonight - we were second best at the contact area and the body position wasn't right.

“Munster played well and we tried to play catch-up rugby. We came back within five points but made too many mistakes and they finished us.

“They played very well, they were very physical and they won 90% of the contact area and were able to kick to the corner to relieve pressure.”

“We have the best defensive record in the Premiership, I think we've only conceded nine tries in 11 games and today we conceded six tries.

“They played very well and didn't make any mistakes, and tonight we weren't good enough to match them.”

And Saint Andre was so impressed with Munster's performance he reckons the Irish province will go on to retain their European title at Murrayfield in May.

He added: “Munster looked very fresh, very strong and off turnovers they played very well. They played a very wide game.

“On the two games I've seen them play against us, I think they'll win the Heineken Cup again.

“It must be a different level between the (Guinness) Premiership and the Heineken Cup, the last three weeks we beat Wasps and London Irish.

“At 52 minutes I felt we were still in the game, but Munster were fantastic tonight. I think the Red army must be proud of their team tonight.

“It is a different stadium to our last visit here but I thought the atmosphere here was fantastic.”