No cure for Munster’s hangover

MUNSTER failed to shrug offtheir Heineken Cup hangoverafter crashing to defeat at Cardiff Blues.

Tries in either half by Denis Leamy and Kieran Lewis could not save Munster from a second successive loss since they were crowned Magners League champions.

There was more concern too for the Lions management following injuries to Cardiff Blues pair Leigh Halfpenny and Jamie Roberts, who was not helped by a bruising challenge off the ball by Nick Williams that brought a yellow card.

Munster coach Tony McGahan said: “It’s always difficult to play after such an emotional week as we have had. There’s always a period of mourning after losing in a competition that means so much to Munster, so I thought this was actually a pretty brave performance considering how little possession we had against a good team.

“We were under a lot of pressure in the first half, especially in the scrum which is something we will have to have a long look at. But we were far more tenacious in the second half, we had a lot more field position and had opportunities to score.”

Leamy and Barry Murphy both saw tries ruled out by the fourth official as Munster turned the tide, having spent the first half with their backs pressed firmly to the wall.

Donncha O’Callaghan and Denis Hurley then combined for Lewis to hand Munster a 12-8 lead in the 67th minute, only for problems at the scrum to allow Cardiff prop Gary Powell to touch down before Andrew Burke saw his first touch of the ball land in the hands of Ceri Sweeney, who galloped under the posts and settle the tie.

It was a cruel break for academy out-half Burke who had taken the field just moments earlier, but McGahan refused to point the finger of blame at the youngster.

He said: “It was a tough break for Andrew but that’s professional rugby. That mistake didn’t cost us the win. We had 79 minutes before that to win the game and we didn’t. But he will learn from experiences like that.

pleased with the effort and there were a number of youngsters we brought through from the bench which is always a positive.”

Munster made a late change to their line-up after Brian Carney was permitted to return home on compassionate grounds for what was described as a “family matter”. Similarly Cardiff also forced into an even later re-shuffle after Halfpenny pulled up during the warm with a thigh strain.

Cardiff and Munster have already seen Tom Shanklin and Tomas O’Leary ruled out of the British Lions tour and that of course was not the only common denominator between these two clubs as rugby’s cruel sense of irony pitted the losing semi-finalists of the Heineken Cup together barely a week after their European dreams were dashed.

Munster were already champions and the Blues were chasing the single point needed for Heineken Cup qualification and combination of the two made for an entertaining encounter.

Munster trailed 8-5 at half-time, but despite spending the entire 40 minutes on the back-foot, it took a yellow card before their defence yielded any points.

Their problems started up front in the scrums where Federico Pucciariello struggled before eventually making way at the break. Munster escaped punishment as Blues out-half Nick Robinson converted just two of seven attempts while Williams’ timely intervention prevented Tom James racing clear.

However Williams’ lost all sense of timing with his challenge on Roberts, acknowledging the fact with a shake of the hands on his way to the sin bin.

Cardiff were already in the ascendancy but eventually used the extra man to put Tom James over in the corner on 22 minutes, though Robinson’s conversion struck the post.

Yet Munster are past-masters of swimming against the tide and after their back-row trio broke clear up field, Denis Hurley and Donncha O’Callaghan, twice, went close before Leamy bulldozed over five minutes before half-time.

Manning missed the conversion before Robinson added a penalty for an 8-5 lead at half-time before Cardiff pulled victory out of the bag with their late show.

Cardiff Blues scorers: Tries: T James, G Powell, Sweeney. Cons: N Robinson. Pens: N Robinson.

CARDIFF BLUES: C Czekaj; R Mustoe, J Robinson, J Roberts (C Sweeney, 45), T James; N Robinson, D Allinson; J Yap, G Williams (R Thomas, 69), G Powell, B Davies, S Morgan (D Jones, 56), S Warburton , A Powell (B White, 69), M Williams (capt).

Munster scorers: Tries: D Leamy, K Lewis. Cons: J Manning.

MUNSTER: D Hurley; K Lewis, B Murphy, K Earls, I Dowling; J Manning (A Burke, 79), P Stringer; F Pucciariello (T Buckley, H-T), D Fogarty (M Essex, 73), J Hayes (F Pucciariello, 73), D O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll (capt), N Williams (D Foley, 79), D Leamy, N Ronan.

Referee: Peter Allan (Scotland)

Attendance: 7,428