‘This will hurt for a long time’
“Words couldn’t describe it,” he admitted. “To look at the players sitting there and seeing how despondent they are and how much it hurts, the pain etched on their faces, to know they have come up short in a competition that is very dear to Munster. There are good days and bad days and today we were second best. The performance, the scoreboard and losing to Leinster, the combination of all that certainly hurts.”
Given that they had been crowned Magners League champions a couple of days earlier, you might have thought it wouldn’t be all doom and gloom in the Munster dressing room. However, when that was put to skipper Paul O’Connell and out-half Ronan O’Gara, they looked decidedly uninterested to say the very least.
“From a squad perspective, winning the Magners League is something to take from the season but the Heineken Cup as regards to Munster is everything”, said McGahan. “We put a lot of effort into it, we have a very strong history and tradition in the competition and certainly wanted to get to Edinburgh for the final, but it was not to be. The Magners is a goal we set ourselves at the start of the season and to have it wrapped up at this stage with two games to go is a great reflection on the squad. But Saturday is what it’s all about.”
“The players are shattered, we’re all shattered,” he went on. “We didn’t play well, we did make a few line breaks early on but were unable to convert and Leinster to their credit scrambled extremely well and turned territory into points. I thought their defence was superb and Kurt McQuilkan has done a fantastic job over the past two years and they have proved this season what a tough defensive side they are. I thought they were outstanding.
“We certainly contributed to our own downfall with unforced errors. We certainly allowed ourselves to be put under pressure and when a team is defending as well as they were, these mistakes seem to multiply at the wrong time. We certainly contributed to the result. Why? I’d be a genius if I could answer that one.”
Like all his senior players, McGahan wouldn’t entertain suggestions of complacency or over confidence: “We trained very well, as normal, we prepared as well as we could and we came in today in an excellent frame of mind ready for a big result. We had prepared all week to expect Leinster’s best game and today we weren’t disappointed. Yes, I was impressed … I thought they displayed tremendous spirit, they really fought for each other and played well off the back off a wonderful defensive display so full credit. Can they win it? It’s difficult to say. Leicester are a quality side. It will take a very good side to turn Leinster over. They work very hard for each other, they’re very well organised and their first-up tackle is excellent. Again, you have to make sure you’re working very hard to put them under pressure.”
Whatever chance Munster entertained of saving the game at 18-6 down, it evaporated on the hour when Brian O’Driscoll intercepted a pass on his own ten metre line and raced away for a try.
“Brian’s intercept was a well-taken try,” maintained McGahan. “He picked out that Paul would be receiving the ball from Ronan and targeted that gap and went through and it certainly was a very smart play from him.
“At 11-6 at half time and with a little bit of wind behind us, we certainly felt we would be able to play the corners and field position like Leinster had done extremely well in the first half but we were unable mount any kind of challenge at all. By the end, we were chasing the game and were too slow at the break down to mount any kind of challenge down the try line.”
Attempting to combine a forward looking approach with the acceptance of reality, McGahan allowed: “This will hurt for a very long time but there are still some positives to be taken out of the season. There have been some very good days and Munster will come back next year bigger and stronger.”
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