Munster still smarting, but re-building process begins

THE faithful filing out of Thomond Park on Saturday night were not exactly humming “Happy Days Are Here Again” but the gloom hanging over Munster rugby of late has been at least partially lifted.

After the horrors of Toulon the previous Sunday, it would not have taken much but there were distinct signs from a chastened and determined Munster outfit that last weekend's abject defeat in the south of France would not be the starting point of a slide into futility.

An improved scrum, much better discipline and considerably more direction than that displayed at Stade Mayol were the plus points on afternoon when longer-term issues were put on hold for the sake of preserving a proud record at Thomond Park.

Whatever else has happened, allowing London Irish to become just the second team to notch a Heineken Cup win on hallowed ground was not part of the scenario.

“With our record at home it was important that we gave a performance,” Munster coach Tony McGahan said. “We got a result. It’s been a tough week. This certainly doesn’t mask or take away previous performances on the road, but it certainly leaves a lot to build on.”

Those at the fortress over the years have become used to stirring comebacks and three tries in the final 10 minutes to secure a Heineken Cup pool match victory in Limerick certainly constitutes that. Yet the reality was that while there will be a European quarter-final to follow, it will be in the Amlin Challenge Cup and not the premier competition.

In a pool campaign that brought angst, recrimination and only a little excitement over five games against London Irish, Toulon and Ospreys, this last hurrah for the season restored pride and offered some redemption for Munster's much put-upon players and coaches.

Yet, like so often in the province's triumphant and not so glorious adventures, it had to be done the hard way.

A first half in which Munster signalled their intent to run in tries rather than play percentage rugby and rack up points brought neither, even when the visitors from England's Aviva Premiership were reduced to 14 men following the sin-binning of tighthead prop Faan Rautenbach.

The Exiles had missed with two kicked attempts from Dan Bowden, a penalty and a drop goal effort before Munster saw two tries disallowed - Damien Varley judged to have been held up at the foot of the posts in the 38th minute and then two minutes later when, frustratingly, Lifeimi Mafi's pass to an unguarded Keith Earls in the corner was deemed forward.

The first score of the match did not come until six minutes after the break, when Varley finally touched down courtesy of his pack following a 20-yard shove.

It was then that Munster put themselves and their fans through the wringer once more. A blocked kick from Tomás O'Leary inside his own 22 was pounced on by the human battleship Seilala Mapusua and, at a converted try apiece, it was game on again with more than 20 minutes to go.

Donncha O'Callaghan, dropped in the aftermath of his senseless and costly yellow card in Toulon, charged back into the action off the bench like a man possessed soon to be followed by Peter Stringer in place of O'Leary but before they had settled, Irish had gone in front, an excellent score set up by the peerless Mapusua for Sailosi Tagicakibau to touch down in the corner. Bowden's conversion then sent the English side into a 14-7 lead and on course for victory with 10 minutes left on the clock.

However, the momentum swung decisively in Munster's favour from the restart. The crowd had sensed more misery and took the appropriate action, raising the decibels considerably to get their team back into the fight, and when London Irish failed to gather Ronan O'Gara's kick-off they sniffed a fightback. That was aided hugely by the visitors' second yellow card of the afternoon, flanker Jamie Gibson sent to the bin for a stamping offence at the subsequent ruck, and victory was once again a possibility.

Tries from Niall Ronan, Earls - who latched onto a perfectly-judged grubber kick from O'Gara - and substitute prop Darragh Hurley made that a reality, while results elsewhere confirmed that the search for silverware would continue on two fronts.

“It's a massive disappointment for us to be out of Europe, sorry, out of the Heineken Cup,” Mick O'Driscoll said, doing his best to get on message before rallying with: “It's not an ideal situation for us to be in, but at the same time it's great if we get in and it's another competition, something that we'll try and strive to win.”

The internationals now head away on Six Nations duty with Ireland, leaving McGahan to continue blooding his youngsters as Munster attempt to maintain their nine-point lead in the Magners League and plan for another round of ‘It's A Knockout’, however pale the imitation.

MUNSTER: J. Murphy (S Deasy, 62); D. Howlett, K. Earls, L. Mafi, Denis Hurley; R. O'Gara, T. O'Leary (P. Stringer, 67); W. du Preez (Darragh Hurley, 72), D. Varley (M. Sherry, 72), J. Hayes (T. Buckley, H-T); M. O'Driscoll (D. O'Callaghan, 62), P. O'Connell; D. Wallace (J. Coughlan, 68), N. Ronan, D. Leamy (capt).

Replacement not used: T Gleeson.

LONDON IRISH: T. Ojo; A. Thompstone, E. Seveali’i, S. Mapusua (capt), S. Tagicakibau; D. Bowden (R. Lamb, 62), D. Allinson (P. Hodgson, 75); A. Corbisiero (D. Murphy, 75), J. Buckland, F. Rautenbach (P. Ion, 56); N. Kennedy (K. Roche, 78), M. Garvey; G. Stowers (P. Ion, 17-26 & R. Thorpe, 56), J. Gibson, C. Hala’ufia.

Replacements not used: B. Blaney, M. Watson.

Yellow cards: Rautenbach 16-26, Gibson 69-79

Referee: P. Allan (Scotland).