O'Connell hails job well done

Paul O’Connell basked in the glory of Munster’s stunning six-try 37-14 win over Sale Sharks at Thomond Park tonight, insisting they did the jersey proud.

Sale’s Heineken Cup hopes were smashed to pieces as reigning champions Munster impressively dismissed Philippe Saint Andre’s side with tries from O’Connell, Jerry Flannery, David Wallace, Ian Dowling, Tomas O’Leary and Paul Warwick.

Charlie Hodgson snaffled a try back for Sale early in the second half, closing the gap to 19-14 straight after Luke McAlister’s second successful penalty.

But Munster, who are now five points clear at the top of Pool 1, ran riot in the closing quarter to guarantee their place in the quarter-finals ahead of next week’s trip to Montauban.

O’Connell said: “We just really wanted it. We put a lot of ourselves into it this week. There’s been a lot of talk about Thomond Park in the last few weeks, a lot of opposing players talking about playing here.

“The crowd are fabulous here but they don’t do anything for you on the pitch - you have to do that yourself. We filled the jersey well today.”

O’Connell said Wallace’s try, which the flanker dotted down after just 26 seconds of the second half, was crucial.

“Every team in the world goes in at half-time whether you are behind or ahead and the cliche is to make the first score – be it a three pointer, five pointer or a seven pointer. That first score is vital.

“I’m sure Sale were saying the same thing in their dressing room. Donncha (O’Callaghan) caught Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe with a good turnover and Wally (David Wallace) did what he’s been doing all year then. That five points was massive.”

Asked did Munster feel any pressure when Hodgson’s try helped bring the Sharks back into contention, O’Connell replied: “I don’t think we did – I think we threw away a good lead and we knew we needed to play down there.

“Attacking them was the best form of defence for us, playing down there putting them under pressure, making them defend and taking it out of their legs. Defending is the hardest thing on your fitness and that’s what we did from that try.”

Though Munster are through to the knockout stages, O’Connell insisted the mentality has to be right next weekend in Montauban as they look to secure a home draw in the last eight.

“We’re going to have to pull together all this week and make sure the mentality is right. It’s something we need to monitor with ourselves all the time and keep an eye on ourselves.

“It’s very important for us that we’re able to go over with the right mental attitude and produce another performance, especially after the highs of this week and last week against the Ospreys.”

Meanwhile, Sale director of rugby Saint Andre.

“I think one needs to congratulate Munster. When you concede six tries against a team, it is not good,” he said.

“Munster played a lot of the good rugby tonight – we were second best at the contact area and the body position wasn’t right.

“Munster played well and we tried to play catch-up rugby. We came back within five points but made too many mistakes and they finished us.

“They played very well, they were very physical and they won 90% of the contact area and were able to kick to the corner to relieve pressure.”

Sale are now out of the Heineken Cup in Saint Andre’s final season with the Guinness Premiership club and the French man said their focus now switches to domestic affairs.

“I’ve nothing more to say other than they were much better than us. Now we need to focus on the Guinness Premiership.

“We have the best defensive record in the Premiership, I think we’ve only conceded nine tries in 11 games and today we conceded six tries.

“They played very well and didn’t make any mistakes, and tonight we weren’t good enough to match them.”

And Saint Andre was so impressed with Munster’s performance he reckons the Irish province will go on to retain their European title at Murrayfield in May.

He added: “Munster looked very fresh, very strong and off turnovers they played very well. They played a very wide game.

“On the two games I’ve seen them play against us, I think they’ll win the Heineken Cup again.

“It must be a different level between the (Guinness) Premiership and the Heineken Cup, the last three weeks we beat Wasps and London Irish.

“At 52 minutes I felt we were still in the game, but Munster were fantastic tonight. I think the Red army must be proud of their team tonight.

“It is a different stadium to our last visit here but I thought the atmosphere here was fantastic.”