O’Connell: sin bin longest 10 minutes of my career

PAUL O’CONNELL last night described his trip to the sin bin as the longest 10 minutes of his rugby career, but hailed his 14 colleagues for rallying to the cause and helping Munster survive a searching Heineken Cup examination.

The Munster captain was yellow carded for what French referee Romain Poite described as “hands in a ruck”, a charge hotly disputed by the Munster skipper. The two-time European champions had to produce the biggest defensive play of the season to withstand a four-minute battering from the Saints.

In the aftermath of battle he hailed the Munster pack for surviving four scrums on the line and, under severe pressure, for turning over possession after Alan Quinlan moved into the second-row and Doug Howlett joined to make up the numbers.