O’Mahony says Munster were wary of early onslaught but couldn’t stop it

In the raw aftermath of a second successive European semi-final defeat, there was very little a Munster captain could say to put a positive spin on yet another bitterly disappointing visit to the Champions Cup last four.

The scoreline will not treat the Irish province harshly when future generations glance through the record books, but there was so much more to this showdown in the sun at Stade Chaban-Delmas yesterday than is reflected by the five-point differential on the scoreboard between Racing 92 and Peter O’Mahony’s Munster.

Head coach Johann van Graan will take much from his first Champions Cup campaign as he approaches his first pre-season at the helm this summer, but for O’Mahony, the gut-wrenching sourness of this day in Bordeaux, 12 months on from a similarly depressing experience against Saracens in the Aviva Stadium, will linger a lot longer.