Munster gain Noves’ respect

After years of showing Munster little more than a grudging respect, Guy Noves finally paid Rob Penney’s warriors the ultimate compliment after the French aristocrats were put to the sword.

In the past, Noves has attributed the province’s European success to a strong forward pack that he once described as “a machine of war.”

Now, he conceded, Munster bring much more to the table and are producing a more eye catching brand of rugby.

“Munster continue to have the same core values. They are still disciplined in attacking possession. Their fundamentals are as good as before. They have the capacity to exploit turnovers. Back in the day, they took advantage with kicking. But now they really play and score tries.”

, Noves also expressed a belief that Munster performance was reflective of the healthy state of Irish rugby.

“Munster (this season) have been working well and they deserved their victory. It was the first time we lost to Munster by such a margin, but it does reflect on Irish rugby and the level that it is at today. Ireland beat France in the Six Nations, and deserved to win that game in Paris. Now, it is up to us to learn the lessons from today’s game to try to raise the levels of our game.”

Noves didn’t sugarcoat his match review: “We were dominated, we missed the first-half. We had the wind behind us and we didn’t take advantage of it by kicking and we encountered their (excellent) defence. The second-half was complicated by the wind. We tried to play all the time with ball and exposed ourselves to one on one defence and counter-attacks.

“We gave it all; we really put ourselves into the game but the score is the score and they deserved the score. We can only congratulate Munster because they played wonderfully. We didn’t abandon the H Cup, we tried to cling on, but we played a great team.

“Munster taught us a big lesson. And I will try to learn from that.

“Maybe it could have been better if the stadium roof was closed. Maybe that would have cut the wind going crossways and there might be a chance of seeing a better performance from Toulouse!”

Noves acknowledged the part played by the fans in helping Munster raise their game to heady heights.

“I was more impressed by the team of course, but also impressed by the supporters behind the team.

“They say you get the public support you deserve and Munster have the public they deserve with really great, fans.”

So what next for Toulouse? “We have lost a quarter-final and the injured players are injured in their hearts more than physically speaking.

“But I’m not dumbstruck, my job is to continue and bounce back in the Top 14.”

Up next is Brive. “We have one more weekend to work and get back more players (from injury), we hope to react with pride in our jersey.”

Beyond Brive, Noves had a word of warning also for those out to deny his team a 20th French title. He cast his mind back to 1996/1997 when, as holders, Toulouse were walloped by Wasps 77-17 in a pool game and lost out heavily to Leicester (37-11) in the semi-final.

“After that record defeat to Wasps we went on to become French champions.”