O’Driscoll blasts ‘average’ display

HONESTY and the acceptance of reality are familiar characteristics of any Munster post-match press conference and that certainly was the case on Saturday night.

The performance by the forwards as an entity left a deal to be desired, a fact readily recognised by skipper Mick O’Driscoll and forwards coach Laurie Fisher.

“As a pack, we were average in every facet of play”, acknowledged O’Driscoll. “The line-out was very bad. I think it was a combination of everything. I’m making the calls so I hold my hand up, a few bad calls, a few bad throws, certain things were missed here and there that are not acceptable at this level. As a pack, we were average tonight in every facet of play.”

Fisher was equally cognisant of problems up front, stating that “we lost four line-outs on crooked throws. The person (Denis Fogarty) didn’t throw well. What can I say? Poor skill. He’s going to have to work on it.”

A major issue afterwards was Munster’s failure to bring on a replacement for Denis Leamy with three minutes to play on the clock. “We just thought at the back end of the game, it was a risk not worth taking”, Fisher explained. “We had 10 other opportunities to score which we didn’t take so, no, it didn’t cost us a bonus point. We didn’t get shoved on that scrum. I don’t know what happened, the ball seemed to get kicked out of Strings’ hands and ended up in their second-row”

Mick O’Driscoll explained there was a misunderstanding on the sideline however.

“I just heard one of the lads saying that we were going to put Ian Dowling in at six for the scrum and bring on a back but it was a complete misunderstanding and backfired for us. These things happen.”

Michael Bradley, the Connacht coach, explained they had conceded two “soft tries” in the first half because two lads jumped out of the defensive line. “If you do that, you have to get man and ball or ball and in both cases we got neither.”