European Cup Pool Four/Bourgoin 27 Munster 30:Rarely can Munster have escaped with a win on their multi-various Heineken European Cup adventures with such relief. They, and by extension their supporters, lived on jagged nerves for much of a riotously wild afternoon in Stade de Geneve, caused in large part by their own transformation into a rugby version of the Harlem Globetrotters.
In an extraordinarily incident-packed game, it has to be said that the vast majority, if not all, of the many marginals, along with a heavy penalty count and a host of narrow escapes largely of their own making, went Munster's way. Malcolm Changleng can certainly not be accused of being a 'homer' and, after this thick-skinned performance, a moratorium should be declared on all criticisms of Scottish referees.
It says everything about the nature of the contest, in which the lead changed hands four times, that the red-shirted hordes broke into their first rendition of The Fields of Athenry, whereupon they were silenced by Bourgoin drawing the sides level for a third time at 20-20 nearing the final quarter.
On a perfectly manicured football pitch, well sheltered from any wind, Munster did not want to get bogged down in a war of attrition with the Bourgoin juggernaut which had kept Biarritz scoreless for the first time in over three years the previous weekend. So, clearly detecting that Bourgoin defended a little softer out wide and perhaps might struggle to live with a high-tempo game, Munster opted to put plenty of pace and width on the ball. Rarely has Peter Stringer, who also made light of much dross, taken so many return passes to link with those in midfield, and with Ronan O'Gara winding up big long flat passes too, rarely have Munster's outside backs received so much ball in one outing; nor indeed the forwards in such open spaces.
Some of their offloading and running was brilliant, but while it may have been high tempo, it was also relatively high-risk rugby and it always seemed to leave Munster vulnerable if there was a spillage or a forced pass too many - and there were plenty of those.
They weren't helped by not having Trevor Halstead as a focal point in midfield, by the ever-willing Denis Leamy clearly physically weakened by his recent illness, and by Bourgoin launching Bryce Williams, Julien Pierre and Julien Bonnaire at the Frankie Sheahan throw with, at times, devastating effect.
Right from the off, Donncha O'Callaghan, one of Munster's best performers, pounced on Wessel Jooste's failure to gather O'Gara's kick-off and Munster twice strung themselves out across the pitch and went through the phases with no reward. They were a little unlucky when Paul O'Connell was harshly penalised for diving in, as he appeared to stay on his feet, for Sebastien Laloo to open the scoring from near half-way.
O'Gara levelled; Munster's aggressive counter-mauling and fringe defence augured well, but when Yann David came infield to gather O'Gara's overcooked chip to link with fellow winger Salesi Finau, he chipped above the red line for Bonnaire to hack on and score in the corner.
From an unexpected quick throw into midfield, Leamy took the ball up hard and from the recycle the halves moved it on slickly for Barry Murphy to fix the defence and offload in the tackle, a hard, flat transfer by David Wallace enabling Marcus Horan to sprint in from the 22 and slide in by the corner with the alacrity of a winger.
However, he and Munster were unlucky to see the ball knocked 20 yards forward by Finau when he rushed up in defence to hit Horan for Guillaume Bousses to gather and score the break-out seven-pointer. Soon, though, Changleng began incurring home wrath when correctly awarding a penalty try and sin binning Brice Monzeglio for coming in from the side.
Munster were perhaps a tad more fortunate when Changleng ruled that O'Gara, having already saved one try when covering from a loosely tapped line-out, had been shoved from behind by David in the race to the latter's chip through. Munster went in at half-time 20-15 ahead, Changleng impervious to the derisive cat calls and boos which accompanied him.
The TMO promptly adjudged that Bourgoin scrumhalf Morgan Parra had not grounded the ball in Munster's in-goal as the force went with the home pack, but the latest reprieve was not for long.
Ian Dowling missed Matthieu Nicolas off a loose ball, Stringer taking the brunt of his charge and Payne inadvertently helping the impact centre roll over and touch down.
Painstakingly and patiently, Munster went through the phases across the pitch, seemingly bogged down in the middle third, before O'Callaghan helped put them on the front foot. O'Gara ran wide to put Shaun Payne - the one Munster rock of reliability amid the madness - through on his inside, the fullback calmly drawing his counterpart before putting Mafi, who'd run a sharp, swift line, over under the posts.
O'Gara's ensuing penalty seemed like the insurance points, but a second Nicolas try through the middle, missed in turn by Murphy and Dowling, ensured a nerve-jangling end.
For one horrible fleeting moment, it seemed like Munster might only emerge with one losing bonus point.
Paul O'Connell looped what he admitted was "a million dollar pass" inside his own 25 and as it broke toward his line he had to dive full-length to save another self-induced, turnover try.
Munster's last-ditch play for a bonus point off a five-metre scrum saw Anthony Foley and Federico Pucciariello coming desperately close, and Bourgoin were possibly never guilty of so much fringing or coming in from the side. But given the balance of play and the decisions, Munster were not of a mind to complain about that.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: Laloo pen 3-0; 12: O'Gara pen 3-3; 16: Bonnaire try 8-3; 22: O'Gara pen 8-6; 24: Horan try, O'Gara con 8-13; 30: Bousses try, Laloo con 15-13; 37: penalty try, O'Gara con 15-20. Half-time. 57: Nicolas try 20-20; 65: Mafi try, O'Gara con 20-27; 74: O'Gara pen 20-30; 76: Nicolas try, Laloo con 27-30.
BOURGOIN: F Denos; Y David, G Bousses, R Coetzee, S Finau; S Laloo, M Parra; O Milloud, R Vigneaux, P Cardinali, B Williams, J Pierre, B Monzeglio, W Jooste, J Bonnaire (capt). Replacements: M Nicolas for Coetzee (34 mins), O Sourgens for Cardinali (57 mins), C Del-Fava for Williams (69 mins), D Khinchagishvili for Vigneux (79 mins). Not used: M Rennie, N Carmona, J-F Coux. Sin bin: Monzeglio (37-47 mins).
MUNSTER: S Payne; J Kelly, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt), M O'Driscoll, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: J Flannery for Sheahan (66 mins), T O'Leary for Kelly (70 mins), A Foley for Leamy (74 mins), F Pucciariello for Horan (76 mins). Not used: J Coughlan, J Manning, C Cullen.
Referee: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland).
