Rugby: Fire in the belly, ice in the mind

Munster 35 Gloucester 14

Alan Gaffney’s side enthralled a capacity 14,000 attendance with a display that mesmerised Gloucester and set themselves up for another tilt at their holy grail - the Heineken Cup knockout phase.

Few could argue with the assertion of Gaffney afterwards: “It was the most complete performance I have experienced with this side. It was very comprehensive, we had a game plan that we stuck to. There will always be errors but that’s the best I’ve seen from Munster since I've been involved.”

After the disappointing display in Kingsholm a week previously, it was hard for the neutrals to fathom the level of improvement.

Gaffney wasn’t surprised. “We let ourselves down in England and we were confident that we could put that behind us. One defeat doesn't make for a bad team, particularly when you're talking about this bunch of guys. I’m so pleased for them.”

Munster's four tries gave them the all-important bonus point and they have overtaken Gloucester at the top with a superior try count and better points difference. To Munster, the extra point was the icing on a sublime display, but its importance in the broader context of the pool cannot be overstated.

Stung into action following widespread criticism, the Munster pack produced a masterful display, wrecking Gloucester’s line-out, beating them into submission in the scrums and dictating matters in the rucks and mauls.

It was as fine a collective forward display as they have ever produced in the Heineken Cup and it was fitting one of them, Frank Sheahan, was man of the match.

Sheahan admitted himself that it could have gone to any of the others, Marcus Horan, Donnacha O'Callaghan or David Wallace. “It was a great day for the pack. We had a lot of things to prove after the game in Kingsholm,” said Sheahan.

Gaffney did admit that good fortune smiled on them when Gloucester hooker Chris Fortey was shown the yellow card midway through the first half. “I’m sure the dismissal had an effect on Gloucester, but they have only themselves to blame for that. It’s just that we made the most of it.”

Munster certainly did that. Having fallen behind - against the run of play - to a Henry Paul penalty, Munster stormed over for the opening try just seconds after Fortey departed.

Even though Paul cancelled out Marcus Horan's try with a second penalty, Munster stuck rigidly to their game plan and finally battered their way over for a second try.

Sheahan was credited with that after a driving maul, but Mike Mullins deserves praise for the way he charged into the fray to nudge it over the line. Ronan O’Gara wasn’t near his best in that first half, but he did add the conversion.

Back with 15 players, Gloucester responded with a third penalty from Paul, this one expertly guided over from the touchline, but Munster dealt them a huge blow on the stroke of half time.

A third try was no more than they deserved, and Horan’s quick thinking was as much a stroke of individual genius as it was an indictment of Gloucester's lack of concentration.

Instead of getting an easy three points from a penalty in front of the posts, Munster got seven when O'Gara added the conversion.

However, any complacency was knocked out of Munster by John Goodridge’s lightening riposte as he ghosted past a stretched Munster defence for five points.

Apart from one promising counter-attack and despite the obvious threat from wingers Marcel Garvey and James Simpson-Daniel, Munster played in the comfort zone after O’Gara stretched the lead out to 25-14 with penalties in the 51st and 56th minutes.

Horan was denied a hat trick of tries when referee Joel Jutge deemed a pass from the impressive Shaun Payne to be forward.

It mattered little. Driven on by the pack and the ever-improving O’Gara, Munster dominated the territory and the game. John Kelly was sent in for the fourth try by Mullins with ten minutes left. O'Gara converted.

Mullins was unlucky to knock on as he flew through four minutes later, but in injury time O'Gara knocked over a penalty to highlight the actual difference between the sides.

The Gloucester coach Nigel Melville was gob-smacked, not so much by the defeat, but by the manner in which Munster turned the screw. “We knew it was going to be hard but we didn't expect that kind of backlash. We were outplayed virtually everywhere and ultimately beaten by a very good side.”

As Gloucester retreated to lick their wounds, Munster captain Jim Williams refused to crow. “We're in a much better position than we were before the game, but we've two very difficult games to play in the next two weeks. Everything hinges on those results. There will be no celebrations, just back to hard work on Monday.”

MUNSTER: S. Payne, J. Kelly, M. Mullins, R. Henderson, A. Horgan, R. O'Gara, P. Stringer, M. Horan, F. Sheahan, J. hayes, D. O'Callaghan, P. O'Connell, J. Williams (captain), A. Foley, D. Wallace.

Replacements. G. McIllwham for Horan (67), S. Keogh for Williams (73).

GLOUCESTER: J. Goodridge, M. Garvey, T. Fanolua, H. Paul, J. Simpson-Daniel, D. McRae, A. Gomersall, T. Woodman, C. Fortey, A. Deacon, A. Brown, M. Cornwell, J. Boer (captain), J. Paramore, P. Buxton.

Replacements. P. Vickery for Deacon (47), J. Forrester for Paramore (52, injured), R. Todd for Fanolua, A. Eustace for Cornwell (both 75). Temporary replacement. C. Collins for Paramore (20-30).

Referee: J. Jutge (France)