Hines gives Munster seal of approval

IT was hardly surprising that most of the kudos was heaped on Leinster after the weekend’s thrilling Heineken Cup action.

But Perpignan forward Nathan Hines is adamant that Munster must not be discounted in the battle for European silverware.

The Scottish lock had just been through a game as physical as any experienced in the French league when he shuffled in to try and explain to the English-speaking press just where the game had been won and lost.

Perpignan have built their growing reputation on their love for getting their hands dirty in the trenches. But even Hines had to admit they were given a lesson in the dark arts by the Munster pack.

“They could definitely win it,” he said of Declan Kidney’s side and their hopes of landing the elusive Heineken Cup. “They have great forwards and their pressure game is awesome. They are going to put a lot of teams under pressure with the game they play. How many times do they make it scrappy, turn over a lineout, slow ball?

“I saw a little bit of the (Leinster) game but it’s obviously going to be a good all-Irish affair and anything can happen.

“There’s a long time to the final though and things can change. But these are two teams on form and they’ll be playing here (at Lansdowne Road), a pitch they both know well.”

Make no mistake, the defeats of Perpignan and especially Toulouse were blows to the solar plexus of a French rugby public who take success in this competition for granted.

Hines may have been gutted, but he certainly didn’t seem surprised by the success of the Irish provinces: “No, not really. In the Celtic League they’re both going well. I thought that the fact they haven’t played much together because of the Six Nations might go against them but it seems to have worked for them. The guys are fresh and playing really well. I’m not surprised that they’re both there.”

Perpignan will know this was one that got away. Twice Matthieu Bourret kicked routine penalties wide of the uprights, while scrum-half Nicolas Durand rejected an easy three points in that second-half in favour of a quick tap penalties that yielded only a free to Munster.

“We could have beaten them,” agreed Hines. “We had some missed penalties, but we gave away some stupid stuff, so we didn’t. We didn’t play very well and Munster played well. They put pressure on us and eventually broke us down.”

All told, it was admirable talk from Hines who never once whinged about decisions, bad luck, or the absence of inspirational captain Bernard Goutta.

He admitted, Munster were better on the pitch. And off it too.

“We knew it was going to be noisy. When Munster play in Thomond Park it’s always with great support. When you give all this extra space for supporters ... well, I think a few of the guys were a bit taken aback.”