Kidney glad to 'get out of jail'

Munster boss Declan Kidney claimed his team had "got out of jail" after booking their fourth Heineken Cup final appearance in nine seasons.

The Irish giants, European champions two years ago, now face three-time tournament winners Toulouse at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on May 24.

They were pushed to the limit however by a mighty display from semi-final opponents Saracens at the Ricoh Arena.

Munster triumphed 18-16 following first-half tries by Ronan O'Gara and Alan Quinlan, while O'Gara kicked two penalties and a conversion, yet Saracens came agonisingly close to knocking them out.

Kidney said: "We got out of jail today, there is no doubt about that.

"We probably played as well as Saracens allowed us to, and somehow we managed to claw and scrimp our way to the final.

"Saracens were up for it, which we knew they would be. They've beaten the Ospreys and Biarritz in this tournament, and they would have beaten Biarritz in Biarritz during their first pool game except for a last-minute penalty.

"We just stuck in there, really. Things didn't flow for us, and we played an enormous amount of the game in our own half.

"It was one of those games that went with the roll of the dice. Thankfully, it went our way, as sheer guts and work-rate got us through."

Saracens' defeat effectively knocks them out of the qualification picture for next season's tournament, given they are struggling to secure a top-half Guinness Premiership finish with just two league matches left.

With no English team through to this season's final, it means six English clubs contesting the 2008/09 Heineken Cup and France providing seven representatives.

Saracens, temporarily reduced to 13 men midway through the second half after props Nick Lloyd and Cencus Johnston were sin-binned, gave Munster a monumental fright.

They scored first through explosive wing Kameli Ratuvou but then could not get quite close enough following tries by O'Gara and Quinlan that underpinned Munster's 15-7 interval lead.

Saracens rugby director Alan Gaffney, who used to be in charge of Munster, confessed he struggled to contain his emotions after the game.

"It was a fantastic effort by the players. No-one gave us too much hope, except ourselves, but we knew we had that performance in us," he said.

"I had tears in my eyes in the changing room afterwards and I was struggling to talk.

"It was an emotion that was for the effort of the players. I couldn't have asked for more from them."

In the cold light of day, Saracens will probably feel it was a game they should have won."

Gaffney added: "We had a lot of opportunities in the first half, and we allowed Munster some easy outs. You just can't do that - we shot ourselves in the foot.

"It is a game of small margins."

England World Cup flanker Richard Hill is likely to play one more game for Saracens before retirement - their Premiership finale against Bristol on May 10 - although much will depend on how his ravaged left knee responds during the next fortnight.

Saracens skipper Neil de Kock paid tribute to both Hill and Gaffney, who is taking up a role with Leinster next term.

De Kock said: "It is a massive thank-you to both of them.

"Alan has brought us a long way, and Richard has just been outstanding in the sport.

"He put his body on the line again today - the character of the man is just outstanding.

"We are gutted after going so close in the game. I felt we matched Munster's physicality, and I commend our guys for standing up to that."