In its own special way, a Munster thing of beauty

MUNSTER 12 NORTHAMPTON 9
Diarmuid O'Flynn, Thomond Park

AS UGLY a win as Munster have ever had in Europe, in Thomond Park especially, and still, and still, it was a thing of beauty. Not a classic, definitely not a classic, but in years to come, and in the on-going magnificence of the Munster rugby story, this game well be spoken of in the same glowing terms as the swashbuckling wins of folklore, those games such as the Miracle Match against Gloucester. Because in its own way this was also a Miracle Match, certainly a miracle win. Consider this; for almost the entirety of the match Munster struggled with their set-piece, both lineout and – most especially – the scrum. In the line-out, Juan Fernandez-Lobbe and Juandre Kruger contested every Munster throw with real conviction, while in the scrum, and with Scot Euan Murray – the best in the business, surely - causing havoc for the visitors on the tight-head side, at times Munster were simply demolished, crushed, penalised time after time, shunted backwards almost at will. In such circumstances, then, a team is not supposed to have any chance of winning.

Consider further: in the 60th minute, the game on a knife-edge, ahead by just three points (9-6) and clinging on for dear life on their own line, Munster lost their talisman, captain Paul O'Connell. For what? You'd have to check with Mr. Romain Poite of the French Federation, because to those gathered in Thomond Park it looked like O'Connell was clearly on his feet, fighting for the ball, even looked like he’d won a famous turnover; initially also Mr. Poite indicated a penalty for Munster, and O'Connell began slapping his team-mates on the back, acclaiming a heroic stand. Imagine his chagrin, then – imagine the reaction of the crowd, especially those in that corner of the ground – when the referee not alone changed the direction of his signal, indicated a penalty for Northampton, but also flashed a yellow card at the clearly outraged O'Connell.

It wasn't the only baffling decision by the man in the middle, but let’s not make him the story. With the steam taken from Munster’s second-row, with Donncha O’Callaghan, O'Connell’s erstwhile long-term partner, also gone, replaced by Donncha Ryan, Northampton naturally opted to take the scrum.
Even the most optimistic of Munster supporters felt that this was it, that during the captain’s absence, at best a try would be conceded - probably directly from the scrum – but more likely, and at worst, several more scores.

How, then, did Munster not concede? How did a beaten scrum, with winger Dougie Howlett forced to join on the blindside, not alone hold the line, but actually force a turnover, and in the scrum at that? Not pretty, no, but heroic, as heroic as anything Munster have ever done. Another one, surely, for the annals. As to the summary of the game otherwise: often in this type of contest, so much at stake, there is a feeling-out process, a sort of chess-game on grass, but there was never anything cerebral about this; it was pure dog-fight, an almighty arm-wrestle.

In the last two Heineken Cup matches Northampton saw the damage Munster can do in an open game of rugby, so they opted to keep this simple – kick, grind, kick, grind, kick, grind. Three points in it at the break, Munster ahead 6-3, two penalties by Ronan O'Gara, one boomer by Bruce Reihana for the Saints. Same again after the break, Reihana tying it with another penalty, O'Gara then edging Munster 12-6 ahead with two more penos, the second of which marked O'Connell’s return from the sin-bin – celebrations on the double for the fans who, on a night when one of their own, Declan O’Connell was honoured with a plaque unveiled in the Stadium, again played a huge part in this win. Heart-stopping stuff, as always with Munster, but yet another quarter-final place secured, and a home draw to boot.
A worry, though – depending on other results over the weekend, could be Northampton again, in Thomond Park again.

Munster: P. Warwick; D. Howlett, K. Earls, J. De Villiers, I. Dowling; R. O’Gara, T. O’Leary; W. Du Preez, D. Fogarty, J. Hayes; D. O’Callaghan, P. O’Connell; A. Quinlan, N. Ronan, D. Wallace.

Replacements: D. Varley (Fogarty 56); D. Ryan (O’Callaghan 56); M. Horan (Du Preez 68); T. Buckley (Hayes 72).

Northampton: B. Foden; C. Ashton, J. Clarke, J. Downey, B. Reihana; S. Geraghty, L. Dickson; S. Tongauiha, D. Hartley (c), E. Murray; I. Fernandes-Lobbe, J. Kruger; C. Lawes, P. Dowson, R. Wilson.

Replacements: C. Day (Fernandez-Lobbe 58); N. Best (Lawes 72); S. Myler (Geraghty 72).

Referee: R. Poite (FFR).