Unconvincing Munster just do enough

MUNSTER'S remarkable Thomond Park Heineken Cup record remains intact but for how long more?

With twelve minutes to play against the Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday night, it looked very vulnerable indeed as the visiting side ran in a magnificent converted try to move into an 18-17 lead.

From the restart and for some reason known only to its owner, a Welsh hand played the ball on their put-in at a scrum thirty five metres out and Ronan O'Gara admirably held his nerve to slot the resulting penalty over.

A deafening roar punctured the stunned silence that had enveloped the old ground and from there home it was Munster all the way. They very nearly snatched a bonus point their disjointed performance hardly merited and now find themselves five points behind Sale Sharks with two pool matches to go. Although skipper Antony Foley vehemently disputed the assertion that group honours are now beyond them and that wins away to Castres and at home to Sale may be good enough only for seventh or eighth place and an away draw in the quarter-finals, the reality is that this performance coming on the back of two mediocre displays against Ulster and the Dragons suggests that this team is far short of the quality required for success in this highly competitive tournament.

Not since Mike Mullins was at his best has Munster had a midfield back worthy of the expression 'line breaker'. Trevor Halstead did get through once in the second half on Saturday but not even the backroom boys were overly impressed. The South African was called ashore shortly afterwards to be replaced by the promising but inexperienced Barry Murphy. Gary Connolly, once again, was anonymous while it becomes increasingly clear that there is little or no understanding between the two centres and O'Gara. On this display, Munster's best attacking options rest with the ever impressive David Wallace, Marcus Horan and Anthony Foley. Otherwise, opposing defences have precious little to worry about.

With Leinster hanging on by the flimsiest of threads and Ulster out of contention, it is more important than ever that Munster should fly the flag for Ireland in Europe. If the potential to go all the way is there, it hasn't been apparent in recent times. As coach Declan Kidney readily admits, they never make things easy for themselves and that certainly was the case on Saturday.

It was a beautiful, crisp winter's evening, Thomond Park was a sea of red and the fans were in festive humour and good voice, ready to celebrate another famous occasion a short few days before Christmas.

Disappointingly, the singing lacked its customary verve, the cheers and chants all too often faded quietly away simply because it wasn't happening out there on the pitch. Kidney worries that the fans expect too much from his financially constrained squad and he has a point. And to be fair, they could hardly have complained at much of what they saw early on, most notably when Horan broke out of defence and passed to Wallace who made a trademark, barnstorming run before lobbing a beautifully judged pass for Mick O'Driscoll to score in the corner. How they cheered when O'Gara, who had earlier kicked a penalty, converted beautifully from the touchline.

10-0 to Munster and surely more to come. Not so. Perhaps it was a case of trying too hard for tries and the crucial bonus point but the mistakes which have become so commonplace arrived almost on cue. True, Horan and Wallace made a few more telling bursts, Donncha O'Callaghan gathered a 22 metre restart and looked an awesome sight as he thundered downfield only for the ball to be eventually lost in contact. Jerry Flannery was picking out his jumpers, and especially the excellent O'Driscoll, with his accurate throws. But a game that might well have been put out of the Dragons' reach by the interval turned in their direction when hooker Steve Jones rumbled over after a series of rucks on the Munster line and Ceri Sweeney landed a penalty with the last kick of the half.

The visitors had another card up their sleeve. Unlike Munster, they had genuine strength in reserve and unleashed Michael Owen and Kevin Morgan for the second half. At first, it appeared to make little difference as the admirable Anthony Foley produced a piece of footballing magic to score in the right hand corner and O'Gara converted with another beauty. It wasn't over yet as a contest but it might have been after 51 minutes when it was decided to go for the seven pointer after the award of a penalty 35 metres out from the Dragons posts and straight in front. All the talk of clinching the win first and the bonus later suddenly seemed to mean very little. Not for the first time, a handling error helped the Welsh to relieve their lines from the line-out and within ten minutes they were in front courtesy of a penalty by Sweeney and a magnificent try from the kick-off by Morgan having been set up by an awesome thirty yard pass by Owen.

Sweeney's conversion edged the Dragons a point in front but just as quickly, a stupidly errant hand in the scrum proved their undoing. O'Gara's boot pushed his side two, then five, points in front before Flannery, whose earlier accuracy at the line-out had temporarily deserted him, was back on song as he grabbed his second Heineken Cup try in two Thomond Park outings and again O'Gara converted. There was still time for the fourth try and it might well have come after a surging maul carried play deep into Dragons territory. But it wasn't to be those Sharks will be tough to reel in now.

MUNSTER: S. Payne; J. Kelly, G. Connolly, T. Halstead, A. Horgan; R. O'Gara, P. Stringer; M. Horan, J. Flannery, J. Hayes, D. O'Callaghan, M. O'Driscoll, D. Leamy, D. Wallace, A. Foley (capt).

Replacement: B. Murphy for Halstead (71 mins).

NEWPORT-GWENT DRAGONS: A. Thomas; G. Chapman, H. Luscombe, J. Bryant, R. Fussell; C. Sweeny, G. Baber; A. Black, S. Jones, G. Robinson, I. Gough, L. Charteris, R. Oakley, R. Bryan capt, J. Ringer.

Replacements: K. Morgan and M. Owen for Thomas and Oakley (h-t); R. Thomas for Robinson (52); G. Cooper for Baber (60); D. Maddocks for Black and P. Sidoli for Gough (both 63).

Referee: C. White (England).