Flamboyant Munster last men standing

THE lead photograph on page one of Brive’s La Montagne on Saturday suggested it was “David défie Goliath”, and given the paths these two clubs have taken since the start of European rugby competition in 1995, the Amlin Challenge quarter-final was aptly billed.

Brive won the Heineken Cup in 1997 and lost the ‘98 final by a point but ever since their fortunes have gone downhill. But everything they say about French teams at home is true; Brive produced a comeback in each half to leave Munster breathless on a day when everyone in the Stade Municipal Amédéé Domenecha was struggling for air.

Ultimately, Munster deserved their victory for the manner they carved up the Brive defence with a swashbuckling performance of brilliant counter-attacking rugby. They stormed into an early lead, were pegged back and then moved clear again before relinquishing control after Brive scored a 72nd minute intercept try. It was not what Munster coach Tony McGahan wanted and certainly what his battle-weary physically exhausted charges needed.