Irish duel still on the cards

FIRST, the positives. Munster have progressed to the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup for the ninth consecutive season as a result of yesterday’s three-point victory over Bourgoin.

Also qualified with one round to go are Leinster - by virtue of their excellent victory over Edinburgh on Saturday - Biarritz and Llanelli.

Leicester’s facile 34–0 bonus point victory over the Cardiff Blues means that next weekend’s showdown between the Tigers and Munster in the last match before the redevelopment of Thomond Park’s will decide who emerges as pool victors.

Should Munster lose and fail to pick up a bonus point they will still qualify as one of the two best-placed runners up. That will almost certainly result in an away clash against Llanelli or Biarritz. Victory, on the other hand, will guarantee a ‘home’ quarter-final. The permutations for their potential opposition are endless but should Leinster lose to Gloucester, the possibility of an all-Irish quarter final remains a possibility.

If Munster never sees Geneva again, they won’t be sorry. Bourgoin, who collapsed to an appalling 57-3 defeat to Leicester at Welford Road, were clearly up for the challenge of beating the Heineken Cup holders. It helped that Munster played into their hands from a tactical perspective when failing to launch their superior kicking game.

Unbelievably in the circumstances, Munster almost pulled off a bonus point victory when the returning Anthony Foley was held up inches from the line in the last play of the game. That said, given the way the contest unfolded, Munster were more than happy to retreat from Switzerland with a win of any description.

With performances like this, one can see how Bourgoin have regularly finished in the top four in the French championship. Quite why they never approach the Heineken Cup with the same attitude remains one of rugby’s great mysteries.

Right from the kick-off when Donncha O’Callaghan regained possession, Munster declared their hand. In magnificent playing conditions they looked to keep the ball in hand at all times and played with commendable width.

However their execution let them down and they paid a heavy price when Bourgoin capitalised on poor mistakes to score tries from their excellent captain Julienne Bonnaire and centre Guillaume Bousses.

An opportunist try by Marcus Horan, whose pace in reaching the corner flag confirmed his complete rehabilitation from a recent calf injury, lifted Munster’s spirits and the superb touchline conversion from Ronan O’Gara was an added bonus.

The fact Munster reached half time on level terms was down to strong refereeing from the oft-criticised Malcolm Changleng of Scotland. His decision to award a penalty try when Bourgoin collapsed a Munster lineout maul was both brave and correct. The additional sin-binning of flanker Brice Monzeglio was probably less so.

At half time, one felt Munster would refine their tactical approach and revert to their proven kicking game in the quest for territory. Inexplicably, they failed to do so and almost paid a heavy price.

In the knowledge that Bourgoin possess an excellent lineout, Declan Kidney chose to include Mick O’Driscoll over Anthony Foley as an auxiliary jumper to support the O’Connell/O’Callaghan axis. He more than justified his selection with a solid game throughout.

It was apparent, however, that Denis Leamy was still suffering from the dehabilitating stomach bug that has affected him in the past few weeks. In the circumstances, one might have expected Foley to be introduced into the proceedings earlier, where his calm head and leadership ability could have been vital.

In the end, Munster’s off-loading game did produce a game-breaking try from Lifeimi Mafi when O’Gara put Sean Payne through a midfield hole. That score proved crucial.

GLOUCESTER’S defeat away to Agen on Friday presented Leinster with a straight-forward task. A victory of any description over Edinburgh guaranteed advancement to the knock out stages. Forearmed with this knowledge, Leinster didn’t disappoint.

Their six-try demolition of the Scots was clinical in its execution. The bonus point victory was even more noteworthy given that they were forced to play without the injured Brian O’Driscoll. Such was the talent behind the scrum that he was hardly missed.

At times the interplay between backs and forwards was mesmerising and in full flow this Leinster team are a joy to watch. Once again Gordon D’Arcy was inspirational in both attack and defence while Shane Horgan collected a hat trick of tries in a display characterised by strength and determination.

However it was stand-in captain Felipe Contepomi who once again orchestrated matters with a display characterised by sublime off loads and outstanding place-kicking.

Up front the Leinster pack proved too strong for Edinburgh to handle with Trevor Hogan, Bernard Jackman, Keith Gleeson and Stephen Keogh carrying ball to great effect.

With Gloucester now out of the competition, Leinster travel to Kingsholm next Friday night already qualified but with the goal of securing a “home” quarter-final, wherever that may be. Defeat could spell a re-union with a familiar foe.