Never say die Munster rise above French flair

FAR from a classic, but the game was laced with some magnificent rugby and, in the end, few Toulouse supporters could argue that their side deserved to depart from the Millennium Stadium with a fourth Heineken Cup.

The 13th Cup final had hardly started when Ronan O’Gara’s midweek warning that the pitch would be unusually wet and slippery because of the closure of the roof rang true. Ian Dowling, Denis Hurley, Doug Howlett and O’Gara himself were among those to lose their feet in the most frenetic and fiercely contested opening 20 minutes.

It didn’t help that Toulouse were dominating the possession stakes and Munster would have been relieved to find themselves only three points behind, a dropped goal by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde on eight minutes, as the game entered its second quarter. However, as always seems to be the case with this team, they gradually got to grips with the situation and Doug Howlett, Lifeimi Mafi and Rua Tipoki were seen in all their pomp.