Maybe Munster’s discipline is the problem
However, there was an undercurrent of resentment on both counts, even if it was a cracking encounter. Frustration was palpable and evident for all to see. Furthermost in their minds was the failure to sneak a win at the end after being awarded a penalty within touching distance of the Northampton posts.
“We took a quick tap with Marcus (Horan) rather than a scrum and we felt they lay on the ball but the ref saw it otherwise,” explained skipper Paul O’Connell. “He said the ball was stuck in there and couldn’t come out. It would have been a scrum to us, I presume and that means, since it wasn’t a penalty, we didn’t get another play. Time was up.
“I suppose at 14 points down, it could have been a whole lot worse. Tomorrow, maybe we’ll be happy with a bonus point but now we’re disappointed that we didn’t get away with a win.”
It was just one of a number of calls that went against Munster who, however, never seem to please referees no matter where they come from. Can all the refs be wrong? Or is Munster’s discipline a major flaw in their set-up?
“We weren’t happy with our discipline,” accepted O’Connell. “We need to look at that and last week as well. Penalties happen that you can’t avoid and there are silly penalties that you can avoid. I was guilty of one today and we were all guilty and it’s something we need to look at it. Discipline has been a strength of ours down the years and, yeah, it’s something we need to look at.”
O’Connell smiled wryly when I pointed out that Munster and French referees don’t seem to get on well together but he wouldn’t be drawn.
“I thought Christophe was good today,” he claimed. “The decision at the end was a bit strange but I think he’s a very good ref and did alright tonight. I do think he refereed both sides fairly. Whether he did or he didn’t, we’re hardly going to be going on about it here. You can go on about refs all you want but the way Northampton played, the intensity they played with and their ability to take opportunities is what cost us, not the refereeing decisions.
“We let them have too many soft scores, a few defensive lapses, one by myself just before half-time. They are good at taking their chances. Shane Geraghty is playing very well and they have a very good ball carrying game. When we presented them with opportunities, whether penalties or tries, they took them very well.
“That they should have played so well didn’t surprise us. We’ve been a little bit off, we were off last week, we improved this week but they play with a lot of intensity, Darren Hartley, Neil Best, Roger Wilson and the rest really had us under the cosh a few times.’’
He added: “You would like a longer run into the season but that has been the luck of the draw for us with injuries. Most of us were supposed to be back three weeks ago but whether the IRFU let us back or not, we would still have been injured. Our strength has always been our squad. Last year we had plenty of injuries and guys stepped in so that’s not an excuse either.”
One of the major talking points afterwards was the remarkable victory for Benetton Treviso over French champions Perpignan in the same pool.
“It’s hard to see what the implications of that are going to be,” O’Connell mused. “It will certainly get their dander up coming to Thomond Park next week. After the first two rounds, you’ll be able to tell more. Perpignan have taken a dent and we have taken a dent so we’ll know more about how things lie next week.
“The November internationals will take a lot of our players (again) and that will be tough,” admitted the captain. “On the other hand, we’ll have guys playing together a little bit more. You look at December and we’re playing Perpignan back to back and that’s an incredibly tough place. If we don’t have our heads on together individually and as a team, we could be in serious trouble in the group.”
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