Kicking king saves Munster

Munster 24 Perpignan 23

In the end, all three came up with the right response last night but it was only by a single point that Perpignan, the scorers of the game’s only three tries, were vanquished. It was far from an impressive performance, and given that the French champions scored the game’s three tries and the penalty count was a massive 17-5 in Munster’s favour, the French are entitled to feel hard done by.

They will be thirsting for revenge, and a referee other than Englishman Wayne Barnes, when the sides meet again at Stade Aime Giral tomorrow week. For now, however, Munster remain on top of Pool One of the Heineken Cup and can only hope that the intervening eight days will enable them to discover the cohesion and composure in their play that was lacking last night.

It was just as well that Ronan O’Gara rediscovered his kicking boots. He must have been under massive pressure as he lined up a succession of kicks after all his recent troubles with the placed ball but he knocked over seven penalties from nine attempts while his coolly-taken left-footed drop goal in the second half was a piece of footballing genius.

Coach Tony McGahan will be a relieved man that his decision to omit Springbok Jean de Villiers didn’t backfire entirely. Lifeimi Mafi has been operating on borrowed time and his concession of a penalty in the 64th minute for holding on at a time when Munster were leading 21-15 infuriated the home fans. The resultant penalty reduced the lead to three points and not long afterwards Perpignan substitute full-back Philip Burger was running more than 70 metres without a hand laid on him for an amazing try that put the visitors in front at 23-21.

Luckily for Munster, the conversion by another replacement, David Mele, shaved the outside of the upright and Munster were saved when Perpignan flanker Bertrand Guiry was pinged for a needless high tackle on Mafi in front of his own posts. O’Gara tapped over the decisive kick and Munster were able to play out the remaining minutes deep in enemy territory.

While many will be more than a little disappointed with the team’s performance, it was in some small way still an improvement on what has been witnessed in more recent times.

Individually, O’Gara has to be overjoyed at the hugely impressive way he responded to all the pressure imposed on him and he remains the Heineken Cup’s ace match winner. When push comes to shove, there’s nobody to beat him and he fully merited the man of the match award!

Paul O’Connell had another storming 80 minutes along with Donncha O’Callaghan while the front row held its own for the most part against the highly-rated Perpignan trio. Alan Quinlan brought off one of the catches of the night, a feat of skill and enthusiasm that led directly to one of his side’s successful penalty goals.

And then there was fortress Thomond Park. The place was packed to the rafters, with 26,000 fans who had plenty of time to lubricate their vocal chords before the action got underway on a cold, windy but thankfully dry night. They willed their side to provide the all-important victory and in the end it came, if only just.

Few if any Heineken Cup matches have produced such an electrifying start. A towering Paul Warwick Garryowen in the second minute forced Christophe Manas to knock on in his own 22 and after a few fruitless drives, Munster were awarded a penalty and he set the tone for a great night personally by calmly bisecting the uprights.

However, the celebrations had hardly died down when a tap down at a line-out by O’Connell on his own 22-metre line was gathered by Perpignan flanker Yoanna Vivaldo and he ran in almost unopposed for the softest of tries. Porical missed the conversion and Munster were quickly back in front when O’Gara landed a smashing penalty from the right touch line.

Once again, though, Munster were marked absent after a lineout on their own 22. Vivalda again broke away and passed to scrum-half Nicolas Durand who skinned Doug Howlett and romped in at the corner.

This time Porical converted, and at 6-12, Munster were in a spot of bother largely of their own making.

It would have been even worse had Porical negotiated a kick from 45 metres. But he missed, O’Gara made it three out of three only to fail with the equaliser. It didn’t help when Munster lost two of their own lineout throws and successive scrums resulted in a free kick and penalty for the French.

Referee Barnes hasn’t always been Munster’s friend in the past but there could be no complaints this time. The penalty count in their favour was 8-4 when O’Gara levelled the scoring after 35 minutes and both sides would have been happy to go in on level terms.

The French began the second half powerfully but somehow the home defence held out. O’Gara and Porical exchanged penalties before Munster edged six clear on the hour. Mele then reduced the margin to three before a long clearance by Paul Warwick was gathered on his own 22 by Burger who scorched down the left wing, beating two frail tackle attempts before outpacing O’Gara for an amazing try in the corner.

In the end, it worked out for Munster, but things are far from right with this team just yet.

MUNSTER: P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, Denis Hurley; R O’Gara, T O’Leary; W du Preez, D Fogarty, J Hayes; D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (capt); A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy.

Replacements: D Varley for Fogarty 60; T Buckley for Hayes 69; J de Villiers for Warwick 75.

PERPIGNAN: J Porical; F Sid, D Marty, M Mermoz, C Manas; G Hume, N Durand; P Freshwater, G Guirado, N Mas (capt); O Olibeau, R Tchale Watchou; Y Vivalda, B Guiry, Y Parent.

Replacements: M Tincu for Guirado, temporary, 19-26 mins; Tincu for Guirado 60; J Schuster for Freshwater 60; P Burger for Porical 63; D Mele for Durand 63;K Pulu for Mas 72.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).