Home tie lifts O'Connell

Paul O’Connell was delighted to guarantee a home Heineken Cup quarter-final after Munster’s victory over Montauban.

Munster had already secured their last eight spot but the Lions and Ireland lock led his men to a comfortable bonus-point success in the south of France.

The defending champions’ opponents in the last eight remain unclear with other matches still to be played – but Munster skipper O’Connell saluted a job well done.

He explained: “We were lucky to get the five tries but it’s great to have a home quarter-final.

“We started really well in the first five minutes but then we were shaky for the following 10.

“Montauban put us under a lot of pressure around the ruck area and that’s something we’ll have to look at.

“But we battered down the hatches and played really well. We were tight but also went wide when we needed to spread the ball. The game-plan worked really well for us.

“We had said we had scored a few soft tries over the last two weeks But they have come through sustained pressure, pressure, pressure.

“Sometimes, we always think we have to earn our tries but they have been coming through pressure late in the first half and early in the second. It was hard for Montauban to keep plugging the gaps and the holes began to appear.”

Munster held a slender 10-6 interval advantage following Tomas O’Leary’s opener at the Stade de Sapiac.

But the double European champions cut loose after the break adding four tries with two each for Lifeimi Mafi and replacement back Barry Murphy.

And O’Connell believes it was the workrate and persistent pressure of his team-mates which allowed Munster to cruise home against the tournament newcomers.

He added: “Sometimes you score before half-time and you jog into the dressing room and it’s not the best thing for the team.

“We were in and around the try-line for long periods before the break and I’m sure it will have sapped their energy and taken away some of their legs because it’s hard to defend in situations like that.

“It is important to score when you’re on top and we were disappointed that we didn’t score. But we managed to do so early in the second through Mafi’s try.”