Injured Kelly watches on the wings as his rivals sparkle

AN Irish international had to sit in the stand and watch rival wingers/centres take Connacht apart at Musgrave Park last night.

But John Kelly never once complained as Munster cut loose in the second half. Kelly, who won’t be back in action after injury for at least another two weeks, was nonetheless delighted with the outcome.

“Killian Keane set down a marker in the first two minutes of the match with a brilliant catch and Munster went from there,” he said.

Even though Munster struggled to lead, 6-3 at the break, Kelly was still never doubted they would win.

I always felt we would win this match but it is not a pretty sight to have to watch it from afar.

“Sometimes, particularly in that first half, I wanted to leap down and bring off every tackle myself. It was tough going for a while but you always expect that against Connacht. In the end, Munster had the better game plan and were prepared to finish off the moves. It’s good to be back in the hunt for a Celtic League title after last year’s disappointment.”

Meanwhile, captain Jim Williams admitted Munster played in fits and starts.

“We resolved ourselves once Paul O’Connell was given the yellow card late in the first half. That, more than anything did a lot to pull the side together when things were difficult”.

The lights went out in Musgrave Park after 14 minutes last night and the teams had to withdraw from the pitch for another ten minute period.

According to Williams, that could have been disastrous.

“We were beginning to impose ourselves on the match at that stage and the blackout put the breaks on things. Still, I was very happy with the way things transpired. The boys got on top up front and the guys outside played it clever. Sometimes it appeared as if there was a wall of offside players but they managed to cope with that.”

Coach Alan Gaffney admitted Munster had struggled through the first half. “It wasn’t easy but then again we never expected it to be. Connacht really put it up to us.

It took us time to build up a head of steam but eventually, when you look at the scoreline, I don’t think that was an inappropriate eventuality.

“We are of course, just glad to get through to the next phase. I really wasn’t worried about the scoreline. All I was concerned about was getting to the semi-finals. We have done that with a small bit of style. It was good to see a number of players coming back into action for the first time in recent weeks.

Hopefully, they will all be fine tomorrow,” he said.

Meanwhile, Connacht coach Steph Nel admitted his team, without a couple of their powerful forwards, were beaten by a better side. “I don’t think we can have any complaints at the end of the day,” he said.