MAGNERS LEAGUE Cardiff Blues 13 Munster 12:MUNSTER WERE denied a victory they probably merited if not for the quality of their performance in a strictly aesthetic sense but for the tenacity shown by a team denied several frontline players.
It was a typically gritty, wholehearted effort, and but for Leigh Halfpenny’s long-range penalty – the only score of the second half – four minutes into injury time the Irish province would have escaped.
Ronan O’Gara spoke about his disappointment in the immediate aftermath of the match, offering a rueful smile when he recalled his decision to take a quick penalty on 58 minutes, electing for a cross-kick rather than taking on the posts.
It’s a cavil given Munster achieved their goal of securing a fourth place finish.
The Munster outhalf and captain shouldn’t remonstrate with himself too much because it was his intelligent, sensible direction in the playmaking role that thrust Munster to the cusp of victory. He won the official man-of-the-match accolade, an honour that reflected not only his four penalties from five but his ability to control field position.
Time and again he shoved Cardiff back into their 22.
His game management offered a stark contrast his opposite number, Ceri Sweeney, who was flawed in thought and deed.
Jean de Villiers was another towering presence chasing and tackling aggressively and making two or three half-breaks that could have earned a more lucrative reward.
The morass of mistakes was an affliction common to both teams in the opening 40 minutes. Both forced passes, and threw ball wantonly without regard for team-mates or a sense of direction in some cases. It was turgid stuff, especially from a Cardiff team that looked edgy, undermined by Sweeney’s poorly conceived and executed kicking game.
Sweeney thumped the ball by rote without looking to establish where Munster’s novice fullback Scott Deasy – who had a fine game – had positioned himself, with the result that the latter rarely had to take more than a couple of steps to field the ball.
The only time Cardiff managed anything with a semblance of control and precision they scored a try. Wales and Lions centre Jamie Roberts demonstrated impressive power to shrug off the attentions of Nick Williams and Peter Stringer to ground the ball.
The try was a legacy of continuity, the home side winning three rucks and then exploiting numbers on the short side.
It was to prove a lonely cameo for the home supporters. Munster, through O’Gara’s masterful direction, played a territorial game and defended with great tenacity on the fringe of ruck and maul.
Cardiff’s back play was lateral, clumsy and largely reliant on Roberts and getting Xavier Rush to try to muscle his way through the midfield traffic.
Munster survived a couple of narrow escapes, not least when replacement number eight James Coughlan won a footrace against Daffyd Hewitt as they contested Blues flanker Martyn Williams’ chip through.
Munster might have had a try of their own but O’Gara’s pass to de Villiers was adjudged forward; it was a marginal call.
The visiting eight and reinforcements demonstrated a tremendous work ethic, led in particular by the Donncha O’Callaghan.
The Irish province also had to survive being down to 14 men – Marcus Horan was sinbinned – but survived because they worked so hard for one another.
Billy Holland had a fine game, Nick Williams might have had a try, while David Wallace and Damien Varley were conspicuous with and without possession.
O’Gara’s four penalties had given Munster a 12-10 interval lead. Cardiff fullback Ben Blair missed two long-range penalties before managing his first success and then added the conversion to Roberts’ try.
Halfpenny’s late intervention gave the home side victory but the plaudits belonged to Munster’s young side.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 13 mins:Blair pen, 3-0; 15: O'Gara pen, 3-3; 24: Roberts try, Blair con, 10-3; 28: O'Gara pen, 10-6; 32: O'Gara pen, 10-9; 40: O'Gara pen, 10-12. Half-time: 10-12. 84: Halfpenny pen, 13-12.
CARDIFF BLUES:B Blair; L Halfpenny, C Laulala, J Roberts, C Czekaj; C Sweeney, D Allinson; G Jenkins, T Rhys Thomas, S Andrews; D Jones, P Tito (capt); M Molitika, M Williams, X Rush. Replacements: D Hewitt for Czekaj (26 mins); G Williams for Thomas (54 mins); B Davies for Tito (54 mins); L Williams for Allinson (61 mins); J Yapp for Andrews (71 mins).
MUNSTER: S Deasy; D Hurley, L Mafi, J de Villiers, T Gleeson; R O'Gara (capt), P Stringer; M Horan, D Varley, T Buckley; D O'Callaghan, B Holland; N Williams, N Ronan, D Wallace. Replacements: D Ryan for Williams (56 mins); P Warwick for Gleeson; J Coughlan for Wallace (61 both mins); T O'Leary for Stringer (64 mins); Williams for Buckley (65 mins); A Quinlan for Williams (69 mins); D Barnes for Hurley (78 mins). Sinbin: M Horan (Munster) 54 mins.
Referee: P Allan(Scotland)
