Tame Munster fail to fire

THIS was by far Munster’s worst performance in the Heineken Cup for five years. They lost 60-19 to Toulouse in 1997 but that was then. This is now and Munster, after four glorious seasons, are supposed to be the toughest nut of all to crack. We saw little evidence of that at Kingsholm on Saturday.

Indeed, they were so poor in going down 34-16 to an admittedly outstanding Gloucester side, that you have to be seriously concerned for their immediate future.

Next Saturday's clash with Perpignan at Thomond Park could hardly be of greater importance. Another defeat would almost certainly render their season meaningless before it really got off the ground at all. Talk of bubbles bursting permeates the air.

Nor can there be any excuses. The match statistics tell it as it was. Tries, Gloucester 4, Munster 1. Tackles, Gloucester 82, Munster 118. Missed tackles, Gloucester 7, Munster 28. Carries, Gloucester 112, Munster 47. Defenders beaten, Gloucester 30, Munster 8. Turnovers conceded, Gloucester 19, Munster 11.

It doesn't make pretty reading and coach Alan Gaffney admitted the team's failure to retain the scant amount of possession that came their way was hugely influential to the outcome.

"We were quite happy at half time and we all agreed it was there for the taking," he accepted. "But in the

second half we just didn't perform. At one time I looked at my watch, it was 25 minutes into the half, and I couldn't remember when we last had the ball.

"Just making basic errors for the first six, eight, 10 minutes put us on the back foot for the entire half. Not finding touch from penalties, kicking the ball dead in goal, cocking up lineouts.

"You can't keep conceding that amount of possession to a side as good as Gloucester, who retain the ball for long periods of time and have a lot of firepower out wide. They were by far the better side on the day.

"I thought our defence generally wasn't bad over the whole game. If you look at the four tries, two were scored from lineouts, another from a hack through. But we couldn't get on the front foot and never got out of that frame of mind.

"It's not that we fell apart totally. We now have to win the five remaining games in the pool. The heads aren't too low and we'll be upbeat for Perpignan next week. Kingsholm had an uplifting effect for Gloucester and we'll experience the same thing when we go back to Thomond next week. We've been on the road for three weeks and it will be nice to go home."

Not since that horrendous day in Toulouse five years ago has a Munster team capitulated so tamely. Even though they were run ragged for most of the first half and only kept the floodgates at bay through some outstanding tackling and covering, they were still in with a chance at the break.

Right on the whistle, they blew Gloucester off their own scrum and forced a penalty which Ronan O'Gara converted. Arrears of 16-9 turning to play with a fresh wind was no bad position provided they came out and carried the fight to Gloucester. It was not to be and Gaffney is right. It was in the 10 minutes after the restart that Munster lost whatever chance they had.

True, it took Gloucester 18 minutes to extend their lead but it is difficult to figure out why. What is apparent is that it was during this spell Munster were well and truly put to the sword. There was no further sign of the Gloucester scrum in disarray, even if it was an area where Munster were solid throughout; the lineout was, at best, uncertain, and the loose forwards were completely tied in as Gloucester went on the rampage.

You look for positives and they are not easy to find. It is reasonable to point out how good Gloucester were on the day and how difficult they are going to be to beat at Kingsholm. "The new Leicester" was one description of them and on this evidence, it may well be apt. As a team, Munster were annihilated and as a consequence, worthy individual performances were few and far between. Marcus Horan is now in the side as a permanent fixture and certainly did his stuff against a formidable adversary in the Lion and Gloucester captain Phil Vickery. Skipper Jim Williams put in the tackles throughout the 80 minutes but as an eight, well, it was no contest.

Peter Stringer passed beautifully and was his usual game self. But even he was outshone by his opposite number Andy Gomarsall who was voted man of the match.

There were times in the first half when clever, rehearsed moves might have upset the Gloucester rhythm, once when O'Gara slipped a reverse pass to John Kelly, the second when Mossie Lawler came in off the blindside wing. Failure to retain possession in the tackle saw the first die a quick death and a lack of support reduced Lawler's effort to no more than a three pointer for obstruction by Henry Paul.

Why he didn't receive a yellow card as well wasn't apparent for Paul's infringement was similar to that which subsequently cost Frankie Sheahan 10 minutes in the cooler.

I wasn't surprised Gloucester coach Nigel Melville subsequently claimed: "I thought referee Joel Dume was fantastic. He dealt equally with both sides. I was very pleased with him."

Monsieur Dume certainly did very little to anger the fans in Gloucester's famous Shed, but don't think for a moment he influenced the outcome one way or the other. It was Gloucester all the way and Munster on the day were nowhere.