Munster 22 Ospreys 16:TO WIN when so much went wrong was further affirmation of Munster's unquenchable European spirit and desire.
Ronan O’Gara uncharacteristically left points behind, they coughed up an intercept try, came off worse with the profoundly unconvincing French referee Christophe Berdos and then had to see off the final 10 minutes without Paul O’Connell.
Given all that, they’d have taken a win over opposition with the quality and ambition of the Ospreys.
Against that, and despite all of that, Munster had their third try on the board with 16 minutes or so remaining, at which point they were also more than seven clear of the Ospreys. But not alone were they unable to push on and claim a bonus point win of their own, they let the Welsh region in for a losing bonus point which keeps them very much alive and interested in this group, not least when the sides meet again next Saturday in the Liberty Stadium.
Of the two, Munster played with far more ambition, and if anything put the cart before the horse a little too much from the off. Instead of grinding the opposition down, and building up a lead through three pointers and territory, they opted to go for the jugular from the off and played with plenty of width and ambition.
James Coughlan and Denis Leamy had big games, the latter and Ronan O’Gara rising to the challenge in their moments of need, not least after O’Connell’s red card. Their arm-wrestling and work-rate at the breakdown was immense and trailing 13-8 to an intercept try by Tommy Bowe, the way they focused collectively, cranked up their intensity and recycling further, and came up with big plays from Denis Hurley and Coughlan up front to Paul Warwick and Doug Howlett at the back, was immense.
Initially they had difficulty with the Ospreys’ lightning quick defensive line speed and shooters, as the crowd implored Berdos to penalize the visitors for offside, though still managed to work Paul Warwick through gaps outside the Ospreys’ four-up defence through a couple of clever moves deftly executed.
Another example, however, was when they shot up so quickly O’Gara was obliged to opt for the chip ahead, which Marty Holah (who was given far more leniency at the breakdown than would normally be the case in the Magners League) blocked at point blank and then claimed on the deck.
By contrast, the home side conceded more space behind the gain line and afford the Ospreys more time on the ball as they kept their defensive shape. And the Munster defence was excellent, defending from the outside in, steering the ineffectual James Hook and Andrew Bishop infield while Bowe lived off scraps.
Ironically, given their supposed reputations, it is Munster who have increasingly tried to broaden their scope whereas the Ospreys, for all their galacticos, efficient lineout and the barnstorming physicality of Jerry Collins and the industrious Mike Philips, have endeavoured to clip their wings and here they played the more pragmatic rugby.
They arguably didn’t deserve the bonus point they ultimately earned, and certainly didn’t merit the fanciful win that suddenly came into their scope late on
The decision to select Coughlan on the blindside was more than vindicated, not least when he caught James Hook with a follow-up tackle and forced the centre’s ensuing forward pass.
It was plays like that which kept them on the front foot territorially and soon they were going through the phases, launching Damian Varley off a lineout move infield before Sam Tuitoupou, Coughlan and Tony Buckley in turn took the ball up. Going blind, Tomás O’Leary spotted there was no-one covering for Barry Davies, who had been brought into the defensive line, and chipped through for Howlett to gather and take Richard Fussell’s tackle to score.
This was sandwiched by two Dan Biggar penalties and a stunning recovery gather at full stretch by Coughlan as Bowe was about to hack on and score from a Biggar kick ahead off a turnover. O’Gara had left eight points behind before closing out the first-half with a successful penalty.
They had worked a two-man overlap through a sustained period of driving play, punctuated by a stunning Howlett step and line-break, when Bowe gambled and picked off a long floated skip pass by Sam Tuitupou for a 14-point turnover and a 13-8 lead for the visitors.
Munster repelled 10 phases and another long attack, Warwick doing superbly to keep the ball in play and offload inside to Johne Murphy before O’Gara launched Tuitupou from deep.
From another conservative kick by Biggar, Howlett gathered and Leamy burst upfield to kickstart a stunning passage of play which culminated in scrum pressure and a yellow card for Paul James.
The pressure told in time-honoured fashion when David Wallace, body positioned low to the ground and knees bent for that familiar leg drive, was helped over the line by Coughlan and Mick O’Driscoll.
When O’Leary quick-wittedly picked off a tap down by Bowe off a poor up-and-under by Biggar to put Murphy over for the third try, Munster looked well primed for a maximum haul. However, the scrums were a blurred mess all day and another Biggar penalty, for a scrum penalty against Wian du Preez, and O’Connell’s red card changed all that.
Instead, Munster were left reliant on some big defensive plays, Donncha O’Callaghan holding up Mike Phillips and Jerry Collins in the tackle for turnovers and, typically, Alan Quinlan nabbing Phillips at the base in the final act. Onward to the Liberty Stadium it is then, with everything still very much to play for, but one imagines Munster will improve significantly for this outing.
Scoring sequence: 2 mins:Biggar pen, 0-3; 11 mins: Howlett try, 5-3; 14 mins: Biggar pen, 5-6; 40 mins: O'Gara pen, 8-6; (half-time 8-6); 42 mins: Bowe try, Biggar con, 8-13; 59 mins: Wallace try, O'Gara con, 15-13; 63 mins: Murphy try, O'Gara con, 22-13; 68 mins: Biggar pen, 22-16.
MUNSTER: P Warwick, D Howlett, K Earls, S Tuitupou, J Murphy, R OGara, T OLeary, W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley, D OCallaghan, M ODriscoll, J Coughlan, D Wallace, D Leamy (capt). Replacements: P OConnell for O'Driscoll, A Quinlan for Coughlan (both 60 mins), J Hayes for Buckley (68 mins), Denis Hurley for Warwick (71 mins), L Mafi for Earls (75 mins). Not used: M Sherry, Darragh Hurley, P Stringer. Sent off: O'Connell (70 mins).
OSPREYS: B Davies; T Bowe, A Bishop, J Hook, R Fussell; D Biggar, M Phillips; P James, R Hibbard, A Jones, R Jones, A Jones, J Collins, M Holah, J Thomas. Replacements: M Davies for Hibbard (51 mins), D Jones for Collins (55-65 mins) and for James (74 mins) I Gough for Thomas, S Parker for Bishop (both 74 mins). Not used: C Mitchell, J Tipuric, J Nutbrown, N Walker. Sin-binned: James (55-65 mins),
Referee: Christophe Berdos(France).
