Battle is lost, but Red Army can return and win the war

MUNSTER have done it before and they'll do it again, insisted coach Alan Gaffney yesterday, as he struggled to overcome the huge disappointment of Sunday's defeat by London Wasps at Lansdowne Road.

Five times semi-finalists, twice finalists, and still no silverware.

Gaffney, who will be in the job for at least another season, must take stock. He will surely chase the IRFU for a substantial portion of the cash his side has generated this season, with the full-house crowds at Thomond Park for the pool stages and quarter-final, followed by Sunday's amazing turnout at Lansdowne Road.

The Union's share of those gates comes to well in excess of a million euro and a considerable amount must surely be directed back to the most successful province - not just as a reward, but also to maintain and improve their standards over the coming seasons.

"The question of whether Munster can come back after another disappointment has been asked for the last four years," Gaffney mused. "It's a good question but since they've done it before, they can do it again. It does have an effect and the boys are bitterly disappointed.

"But they've got courage, pride and belief. I'd be very confident they can come back. The supporters were marvellous and will remain that way and we thank them.

"It was a great occasion on Sunday. Coming to the ground, the support of the people on the street was fantastic. It was astounding and I've never seen anything like it in all my time in rugby. I'm sure the players got a buzz out of it. I sure did, I had tears in my eyes.

"Looking to the future, you need to keep adding to your squad, there's no doubt about that, and we're going through that process at present. We're a long way from resolving it. It's not easy. There are players on the market way beyond the money that we could possibly even entertain."

Sad to hear that, because Munster have earned the resources so necessary to keep in step with the cash- rich clubs in France and England.

Alan needs the money to bolster many parts of his front line squad. He has at least set the ball rolling with the acquisition of Paul Burke as back-up to Ronan O'Gara, and may also delve into the market for an understudy to Peter Stringer.

In spite of a few classy touches on Sunday, Christian Cullen remains an enigma, one of the game's greatest, yet a man who has failed to deliver in the red jersey and who appears to lack confidence in the shoulder that sidelined him for his early months in Ireland, a point best made by his unease with first-up tackles.

Rob Henderson was very dangerous when he took the ball at pace. He doesn't threaten half as much when in a static or near static situation and that was all too often the case against Wasps. Mike Mullins missed vital tackles and that cost Munster dearly.

The successes of the campaign have been Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer and the entire pack.

Shaun Payne made a sizeable impact throughout the season and John Kelly remains one of their most underrated players.

A lack of penetration has been apparent in the Munster team for a long time and the shortcomings have not been remedied.

And just where would the team be if either Marcus Horan or John Hayes were to miss a big match. The 34-year-old Gordon McIlwham and Simon Kerr, also 34, were on standby. Not good enough by a distance, but with the country dangerously short in this area, Gaffney's options are limited.

Even though Paul O'Connell and Donncha O'Callaghan failed to make their anticipated impression against Wasps, both are contracted for the next couple of years but they, too, need support, and Dave Pusey does not appear to be the answer.

As for the back-row, few teams are as well-equipped as Munster and it was here that they suffered the worst luck of all.

The front line trio was probably Anthony Foley, Jim Williams and Alan Quinlan.

Even with Quinlan out for the season and the highly-promising Denis Leamy also injured, there didn't appear to be any serious concern, with David Wallace fit to resume, until chicken pox - of all things intervened on the eve of the biggest game of the season.

With a few major acquisitions in certain positions, Munster can come back from this latest crushing disappointment.

They have men with the character to do so.

One pity about Sunday was that Warren Gatland departed Lansdowne Road, probably for the last time, on such an ungracious note.

He couldn't find it in himself to mention the Munster fans, some of whom he knows personally, for the wonderful contribution they have made to the success of the Heineken Cup, or to accept that Munster's achievement in reaching five successive semi-finals was worthy of note.

Instead, he contrasted the ease with which Munster get into the competition with the qualification examination set his own club, Gloucester and the rest.

As he departed, his demeanour proclaimed that if he never saw Lansdowne Road again, it would be too soon.

The occasion deserved better than that.