Kidney: ‘this was a very special day’
The coach was always proud of the men under his command, but admitted this was different: “This was a very special day. I was focused on just winning the game but thinking about it now, beating a team of Wasps’ calibre by any score, one point, two points, whatever, was always going to be a big ask.
“To do it in the way the boys went methodically through the game speaks volumes for them and the decision-makers out on the pitch for the way they played it. At 12-3 we might have won the match but Wasps could have gone through had they scored a try. And to be in thick of things in the middle of a pitch and to know that and still have the control the way they did it, says so much about them.
“I couldn’t say enough for the whole squad given that we have qualified out of this group,” he went on. “This was achieved not only today but throughout the six matches. We managed to scrape a point from every match we played, even when we lost over in Wasps and Clermont. They’ve been very important for us in terms of qualification.
“I’m proud of them, I’m always proud of them. Yes, today is a special day.
“When it comes to matches like this, we need to punch above our weight because of the quality of the sides we’re playing,” he reasoned.
“The way some players have managed to do that over a long period and kept their enthusiasm, is magnificent. The way other people come in and feed into it is very satisfying.
“What pleased me most today was that we gained a bit of composure when we got to 3-3. Strings took a good bit of control by turning them a few times, which was something we learned against Leicester last year, playing the ball out in front of the forwards on a day like this. And we learned it well over the last two months in fixtures against Leinster and Connacht at home and Llanelli away in very similar conditions.”
Raising the subject of Ronan O’Gara’s “blinder” enthused Kidney further: “It was definitely the toughest pool we’ve been drawn since I became involved. When the draw was made last May and you were to say I’d be sitting here on a beautiful January day, I would take that.
“The way we kept the ball before the try came showed a certain amount of resilience. Apparently, it was 11 phases short of our retention in Llanelli. Because we kept the ball, you could say it was very good. But had we spilled the ball in one of those plays, we had nobody marking four men. Games go on those things. We showed good skill, good ball retention, good patience and then somebody has to stand and make the difference and Ronan made a show and go and off he went.
“You could pick a lot of Ronan’s cameos; he saved us a try in the first half, he was the one to have the courage to have that show and go to break the line for our try.”
But Kidney’s tone changed when Wasps’ complaints about referee Nigel Owens was raised.
“I would never try to second-guess another coach or another professional’s opinion but I just know that we worked very hard on our discipline and if our discipline is good enough that it gets us through. I will give full credit to the Munster team for that,” he asserted.
“If we showed good discipline, then we showed good discipline. Nigel Owens is a top-class referee. To say something like that doesn’t serve … it’s not for me to say.”
Looking back on ten amazing years for Munster, during which they have qualified for every one of the quarter-finals, Kidney pointed out that: “Ten years of work start with someone, somewhere. I think the first away win was Padova when our four supporters were the Horgans (parents of Anthony) and the Kellys (parents of John) and I think we got a point against Neath the week before. So it does start somewhere.
“Munster is a team that feeds off the traditions that other people set up. There’s an onus on us not to let other people down and I don’t think the players let anyone down today. And that’s in respect to the people who have gone before us.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
