Plenty of positives as O’Gara hits back

THERE were so many Santas wearing Munster hats on the terraces of Thomond Park last night, it was inevitable that Christmas was going to come early this year.

That said, it was Munster who were handing out the early presents with two tries presented to Perpignan on a plate.

If ever the character of the team was going to be tested, then this was the time.

To their credit, they kept their heads and their composure, none more so than Ronan O’Gara, who has had a torrid time with the boot of late.

When he stood up for his first kick at goal after only three minutes the traditional Thomond Park silence was accompanied by a collective intake of breath.

We need not have worried. Under pressure, O’Gara always delivers. The technical flaws that have plagued him for the last few weeks have been put to bed.

Given the way Munster defended the five metre channels in the opening 12 minutes, that was just as well. Buoyed with that success from the boot, it was his tactical awareness in the second half that kept Munster alive.

The most important aspect of this game was the fact that Munster won. Perpignan for their part have reason to be satisfied with the losing bonus point, which means that they will to go for broke in the Stade Aime Giral next week.

Short five front-liners coming into this game, including their entire back row of Jean Pierre Perez, Gerrie Britz and the gargantuan Henry Tuilagi, they still have everything to play for.

Munster must accentuate the positives from this performance. They looked very positive with ball in hand and some of their offloading in the tackle was excellent.

They did however look to make the million dollar pass on too many occasions, and paid the price with silly knock-ons.

While Perpignan looked to impose their renowned maul, Munster succeeded in killing it at source and they never made the in roads that one feared they might. Munster’s scrum was also rock solid with Wian du Preez faring far better against Nicholas Mas than his South African counterpart Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira did in the international against France a few weeks ago.

As always, Wayne Barnes had an influence on the game and was as technical as ever at the breakdown and on the scrum engagement, penalising Munster in the first two scrums.

The most impressive thing about Munster last night was the belief was back. Despite making life difficult for themselves with a concession of silly penalties, the heads never dropped.

However, Lifeimi Mafi will have to curb his tendency to counter-attack without support. He ran down too many blinds alleys, and with the tackler now able to compete for possession immediately, Mafi ended up conceding turnovers and one crucial penalty. Somebody better tell him it is OK to kick the ball the odd time.

Furthermore, Munster just cannot continue to gift the opposition soft tries as they did in the opening 12 minutes of this game. It would have killed a lesser side. At least with O’Gara back in the groove and a highly competitive 80 minutes behind them, Munster can now sit back with a nine-day turnaround and plot the downfall of a team who do not countenance losing at home.

Apart from O’Gara, Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan, Denis Leamy and David Wallace were outstanding. Munster have the opportunity to carry the fight to the French champions and make a statement to the rest of Europe. They may have rode their luck at times, but the desire and will to win is as strong as ever.

One small step in the right direction.