Munster hold the final aces, believes chastened Cheika
Minutes after his Leinster side had succumbed in an absorbing Lansdowne Road semi-final, Cheika said Munster were the better of the two remaining teams in the competition.
“They want it and will pose more threats to Biarritz than the French side will pose to them. I wouldn’t be the greatest analyst of the two teams at the moment, but I figure Munster have this great belief in themselves, and they won’t be thrown off by anyone at this stage,” he said.
Cheika wasn’t for excuses but bemoaned the fact that Leinster failed to get into any type of rhythm.
“That was really down to the opposition, who smothered out us of the game, took the ball away from us and kept it to themselves.
“Still, I was proud of our guys. For a team not known for courage, more for skills, they hung into the game for as long as possible. They did that with courage, without the skills on the day.”
Cheika spoke of the pendulum swinging one way and the other, noting that it didn’t swing Leinster’s way for long.
“We had it in our favour for a bit, but we didn’t get it far enough to allow us score the points we needed to get back in the game. Our game is scoring tries and winning games as a result. You can’t win games without scoring tries.
Nobody in the Munster camp, not least coach Declan Kidney, is likely to lose the run of himself.
Kidney described it as a “typically tight” match between two rival sides and said it was a game that turned on a few incidents. “It was as I expected; we never figured this was going to be easy, and the final score line hardly did Leinster justice,” he said.
But Kidney was mightily relieved. “It was a huge game; any semi-final is bound to be tough, but against another Irish team, it’s always bound to be harder. To have come through that is a relief more than anything.
“There were two very good teams out there, and to have two teams from Ireland competing for a place in the final of the Heineken Cup is testimony to where Irish rugby stands at the present.”
Kidney admitted a good start was needed and was thankful his side held a 13-point lead at the break. But he was not convinced it would be enough against a side of Leinster’s calibre.
“I actually thought we might be a couple of points short against a team with such talent, but the fact that we managed to hold it for so long and then build on it towards the end speaks volumes for our guys.
Munster’s injury jinx in the middle of the pitch struck again. John Kelly was helped off with a shoulder injury after 11 minutes and Rob Henderson, his replacement, had to retire a few minutes from the end.
It prompted Kidney to remark: “Maybe we should do away with the number 13 jersey altogether and have a 12 and 12A. We had a bit of a struggle worrying about Peter Stringer’s fitness as well, but happily he came through the game okay.”
* Henderson (ankle) and Kelly (shoulder) will have scans today to assess the damage. The good news for Munster is that Alan Quinlan and Christian Cullen are likely to come back into the reckoning for selection within a fortnight. O’Gara’s knee laceration opened up again but he expects to be back in action after a week’s recuperation following his superb individual performance yesterday.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
