O’Connell: loss of momentum cost us dearly

CAPTAIN Paul O’Connell bemoaned Munster’s 15 minutes of uncharacteristic slackness after the break at Stade Marcel Michelin.

“If we had continued playing like we had been playing in the first-half, we would have been in with a great chance,” he said. “We conceded momentum too many times in the first 15 minutes of the second half, left them get a bit of a rumble on in the maul and they were getting over the gain-line. It doesn’t matter what you do at the breakdown after that, you’re going to be chasing your tail. That’s what happened at the start of the second half, and it turned the momentum in their favour.”

Munster had been going so well in that first half, and were giving a masterclass in how to contain a difficult opponent in their home fortress.