McGahan stands by his man

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan wasted no time in launching a staunch defence of Ronan O’Gara after his penalty misses proved costly against the Ospreys on Saturday night.

However the head coach was also realistic in his appraisal of O’Gara’s display in front of goal and its significance on the result at the Liberty Stadium.

O’Gara was desperate to produce a display to reflect his years of experience and assuredness in front of the posts that have made him one of the greatest kickers of all time and worthy of regaining his Ireland No10 jersey.

Yet just a week after watching Jonathan Sexton take on South Africa and win, O’Gara was left red-faced in the pouring rain of south Wales and overshadowed again by a younger rival.

Ospreys 20-year-old fly half Dan Biggar kicked 14 points while the Munster veteran could manage just two from seven attempts to leave his team fighting an uphill battle.

McGahan said: “Ronan was looking for a good performance. He kicked well out of hand and his first-up defence was good but people will inevitably harp on about the kicks.

“I’m sure he will as well but I thought the rest of his game was good.”

It was hardly the form Munster sought to inspire confidence ahead of a crucial game against Perpignan in the Heineken Cup on Friday in which every point is likely to be crucial.

Inspiration was something clearly lacking on Saturday night against the Ospreys. Having taken an early lead through the scrum with a penalty try and dominating the first half, Munster fell apart after the break.

Those missed kicks meant Munster were only 7-6 to the good at the interval despite James Coughlan going close, and after Tommy Bowe’s try swung the game in the Ospreys favour, the visitors were left high and dry.

There was a question of a forward pass before Bowe barged through three defenders to score on 43 minutes but Munster failed to respond.

Instead hooker Denis Fogarty and No 8 Coughlan were both sin binned in the second half at the Liberty Stadium as a half-time lead turned into 19-7 deficit before Nick Williams’s last score salvaged a bonus point, leaving McGahan with few complaints.

He said: “It was a fair result. The Ospreys played well in the second half, they controlled the game very well and got the result. From our vantage point and the replay we saw, it didn’t look like the pass (to Bowe) was straight, but that’s the way the game goes sometimes.

“We competed well in the first half, got good field possession but came up short on a few kicks that could have led to a larger score at half time.

“But our discipline was a problem, we gave away too many penalties and had two men in the sin bin for 20 minutes of the second half which makes it very difficult to compete against a good team like the Ospreys. The only positive we can take is the bonus point.”

Paul O’Connell’s late withdrawal and the subsequent absence of his leadership was felt heavily when the game turned and McGahan will be desperate for his captain to shake off a calf strain picked up against South Africa.

He said: “Perpignan is a completely different competition so this result will not have any ramifications next weekend. We have a few players to come back so there will be no hangover. We will have to look at our discipline and defence around the ruck this week but we’re going into the game very positively.”

Of long-term concern will be Munster’s poor away form that is threatening to harm their hopes in the Magners League with a trip to Perpignan in the Heineken Cup looming large in a fortnight.

McGahan said: “Our away form is not good at all. You just have to look at last year’s results to see that. We beat Edinburgh, Glasgow and this fixture last year so we are already down nine points on the road this season. Consistency away is a real problem and we’re in no uncertainty about what is in front of us against Perpignan.”

Scorers for Ospreys: Try: T Bowe. Con: D Biggar. Pens: D Biggar (3). Drop G: D Biggar.

Scorers for Munster: Tries: Penalty try, N Williams. Cons: R O’Gara (2).

OSPREYS: G Owen; T Bowe, S Parker, A Bishop, N Walker; D Biggar, L Davies; D Jones (P James 41), R Hibbard (H Bennett 68), C Mitchell (C Griffiths 72), AW Jones (A Lloyd 76), J Thomas, J Collins (capt), M Holah, F Tiatia (B Lewis 79).

Yellow Card: AW Jones 26.

MUNSTER: P Warwick; D Howlett (I Dowling 62), J de Villiers (D Hurley 76), L Mafi, K Earls; R O’Gara (capt), T O’Leary (P Stringer 71); W du Preez, D Fogarty, J Hayes (T Buckley 62), D O’Callaghan, D Ryan (M O’Driscoll 55), A Quinlan, N Ronan, J Coughlan (D Varley 48-58, N Williams 76).

Yellow Cards: D Fogarty 43, J Coughlin 63.

Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU).

Attendance: 8,077