All’s well that ends well, but...

EVEN when Munster fell ten points behind Treviso after 23 minutes in the Thomond Park sunshine on Saturday, there was no feeling this was about to become one of the greatest upsets in Heineken Cup history.

Eventually and predictably, the hosts took control, running in seven tries in a free wheeling if rather flattering victory over a game but limited Italian side.

The bonus point has sent them to the top of Pool One and leaves them nicely positioned for the moment. But it would be foolhardy to believe that the many inadequacies of the previous fortnight had all been ironed out while a state of crisis is looming in the front-row due to injuries and the suspension of John Hayes.

A better indication of their true worth will be provided with the back-to-back matches against Perpignan in December. The good news concerning those two vital games is that Hayes will be available and presumably Marcus Horan will have recovered from the knock to the head that forced him off in the 16th minute.

In truth, the scrum was in trouble in those early stages with the all-international Treviso front-row turning the screw to embarrassing proportions. This led to well-taken but soft tries by wingers Brendan Williams and Andrew Vilk while Doug Howlett, despite a serious hamstring strain, managed to race back and avert a possible third touch down.

Ironically, the Munster scrum settled a little once Frenchman Julien Brugnaut replaced Horan but overall, the display in the first 25 minutes smacked far too much of the same period a week earlier in Northampton. It took the admirable Paul Warwick – who shaded the man of the match award ahead of Donncha O’Callaghan – to get the side back on track with a sparkling try on the half hour. Ronan O’Gara converted and the seven pointer removed any doubt concerning the outcome.

Warwick set up Ian Dowling (just in the game as a replacement for Howlett) for the second try on half time and in the second half Denis Leamy, Denis Fogarty, David Wallace, Dowling again and Jean De Villiers (to the delight of the crowd) touched down. O’Gara converted only two more but on this particular day, that was of little consequence.

However, what should be exercising the minds of players and management alike is the way the scrum is coming under increasing pressure. The absence of Hayes is being seriously felt and too often scrum-half Tomás O’Leary is either receiving the ball on the back foot or penalties are conceded.

Coach Tony McGahan, however, isn’t unduly concerned. “We knew Treviso were going to come really hard at us and I thought we responded really well after the first couple of set pieces and built up a good platform in the first half to build up some points. There are issues there: John’s suspension, Dave Ryan is out for three months with a dislocated elbow, Tony Buckley has a calf injury and Marcus went off so we’re down to the bare minimum in the front-row department. After last week’s result, I think Treviso came with tremendous belief, with a result in their minds.”

McGahan seemed more alarmed by the defensive lapses that have dogged the side over the past few weeks, stating that “our line speed was poor and the first up tackling was insufficient”.

He was buoyed, though, by the improvement in discipline, pointing out that “we are now averaging 11 penalties at this stage of the season whereas in the first three or four weeks, it was 15 or 16 so we’re slowly getting there.”

On top of that was the failure of either Perpignan or Northampton to take a bonus point from the pool’s other game on Friday night while by the end on Saturday, all memories of the early ten-point deficit had been removed by a side putting some sparkling phases together and with several individuals stepping up to the plate.

Warwick is playing great rugby and capped his fine all-round performance with the important opening try. Keith Earls is another who looked sharp and eager for work although whether the team’s cause is best served by playing him on the left wing rather than second centre is a moot point. De Villiers first try at Thomond received a huge cheer while the excellence of David Wallace and the powerful display of O’Callaghan were other gratifying aspects of the game.

Wallace has the look of a man all set to pick up where he left off last season as he scored his second try in as many European Cup games and his 14th in the tournament.

It was good to see Peter Stringer get a decent amount of game time and there were also some interesting little cameos from Denis Hurley, Darragh Hurley and Damien Varley.

O’Callaghan and O’Connell continue to stand out as one of the most formidable second-row combinations in the world and the team got it largely right well before the finish.

That being the case, you wonder why there is still the nagging feeling that Munster, on current form, are still short of the level of performance required to go all the way in Europe.

MUNSTER: P Warwick; D Howlett, L Mafi, J de Villiers, K Earls; R O’Gara, T O’Leary; M Horan, D Fogarty, T Buckley; D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (capt); A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy.

Replacements: J Brugnaut for Horan (16); I Dowling for Howlett (35); Darragh Hurley for Buckley (47); Denis Hurley for Earls (55); D Varley for Fogarty (55); N Ronan for Quinlan (58); P Stringer for O’Leary (64); M O’Driscoll for O’Callaghan (65).

BENETTON TREVISO: L McLean; B Williams, A Sgarbi, G Garcia, A Vilk; M Goosen, F Semenzato; M Rizzo, L Ghiraldini, I Fernandez Rouyet; A Pavanello (capt), C van Zyl; B Vermaak , A Zanni, D Kingi.

Replacements: D Vidal, A Allori and P di Santon for Rizzo, Ghiraldini and Fernandez Rouyet, (all 49); T Botes for Goosen, (23 and 61); R Barbieri for Van Zyl (57); F Waters for Garcia (61).

Referee: Jerome Garces (France).