Dragons nearly put us to the sword, Foley warns pool rivals

MUNSTER captain Anthony Foley displayed customary fighting spirit when it was suggested to him after victory over the Dragons that Pool One of the Heineken Cup is a done deal.
Dragons nearly put us to the sword, Foley warns pool rivals

"You're assuming a lot," he retorted. "You're assuming that Sale are going to go unbeaten. You're talking about the Dragons, the team that nearly put us to the sword today, you're talking about them going up to Edgeley Road and rolling over.

"I don't see that and I think there's a lot of rugby left in this group. They have a lot of injuries and you could see players coming back over that period. They're more or less cut from the same cloth as we are they're a very direct side. You saw the way they learned from last week in their selection. They picked a very hard-nosed team to come straight up the middle at us and it was something we expected.

"They contested everything and shut up shop so we had to be patient and vary our game and I think we did that well at times.

"I felt we tried to force the game in the first half. Passes weren't going to hand; we compounded error upon error. At half time, we addressed that and talked about cherishing possession and bringing them through phases."

As for his all-important and superbly -taken try, Foley joked that "it was just run of the mill for me," while on a more serious note, he added: "It was a good opportunity and it was important to score at that stage, whether it was three, five or seven, and get a bit of momentum into the game.

We didn't get the bonus but we're not too upset about that. At 17-8, we had a penalty in front of the posts and we had a little discussion and we decided we'd have a go at the corner.

"Unfortunately, I knocked on the ball coming off Dunners (Donncha O'Callaghan) and they managed to alleviate that pressure. Later on, it became apparent that we needed to concentrate on getting our win and we did that and it transpired that with four minutes to go we had another chance of a bonus point."

Coach Declan Kidney agreed that the Dragons have more to offer than the pool table would suggest: "The game showed the quality they have when they could run in tries like that.

"I wondered if we had time to play our way back into it because nothing that they did would surprise me.

"To dig that hole for yourself with 12 minutes to go and show the composure that we did and to be looking for the bonus point at the end was great credit to the players.

"I thought we had a really good 20-minute spell in the first half. Then we went hunting for tries and got into the kind of looser game that the Dragons like to play. They came back at us but we came out and got a good try and went for the bonus point from a penalty so the players can't be blamed for not trying for it."

Not for the first time, Kidney used a golfing analogy to get his point across: "How often do they go around in 66, 67. Some days, it's 70, 71.

"The players are wrecked because of all the effort they've put in. It's a different type job than what it was. I think there's a danger within the country that we could lose the fun and lose sight of the fact that we always work off small resources.

"We're looking to compete with the resources the French and English are putting into it. Look at the Sale team now compared with three years ago.

"They've recruited very well and that obviously had to come from somewhere. We're home-grown, the same as Ulster and Leinster, but I'm not talking negatively because I believe we can win it now as much as any other year."

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