Sale fail to bargain for Wallace once again
It was his score in the dying minutes at Thomond Park in 2006 that earned a bonus point against the Sharks and set up Munster’s successful challenge for the title later in the season. Yesterday’s thriller at Edgeley Park was tied at 16-all when Wallace struck again in the right corner.
It was the highlight of a man-of-the-match performance by a player who before the match was moved by coach Tony McGahan to number eight from his customary open side wing-forward position.
He’s the kind of guy who lets his rugby do the talking but even he struggled to play down his delight at how they rose to the challenge yesterday.
“Sale getting the bonus point away from home put us under a lot of pressure for if we lost today we could have been out of the competition,” he said. “We knew our backs were to the wall and so we had to come out fighting and have the single-minded mentality to get the win and I think we had that. We didn’t come out all guns blazing last week, and this was a much better performance.
“I’m comfortable at number eight. It was my first position growing up and I have been shoved in there the odd time. I had to do my homework because it’s a different position than seven. I was getting ball from first phase, because when you’re at seven, you’re usually at the bottom of a ruck.”
The decisive try was beautifully taken, with major contributions from Tomás O’Leary and Lifeimi Mafi. “We had three on two at one stage but they filled in another number. I was just concentrating on trying to get deep off Mafs, because I knew he’d be under pressure but he took the ball brilliantly, sweet hands into the right spot for me and made it easy for me.”
Neither Wallace nor any other player had a gripe with the decision to rule a Ronan O’Gara penalty attempt wide in the second half when many felt it had crept over off the top of the upright.
“There wasn’t any danger of us getting upset over that, especially because we knew one penalty wasn’t going to win the game anyway,” he maintained. “They had come back to 16-all and we had to dig deep and stick the final nail in their coffin at the end. The group is not won… you don’t win competitions in Europe but you certainly can lose them. That’s certainly how we felt during the week. Sale got the bonus point away last week and that’s going to stand them in good stead last week.
“My memory of here was subbing a couple of years ago and being beaten and getting only a few minutes. It was a disappointing day for me and it’s great to have a positive mood coming away this time. This is what we’ve been doing for the past ten years. Playing away from home is no excuse. To win the tournament, you have to win away from home.
“As holders, it’s probably harder for you’re up on a pedestal and teams want to knock you off. Teams raise their game against you so you just have to improve as a team and a squad. If you stay as you were the previous year, you will get nowhere.”
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