The 14,000 strong crowd were not dissatisfied at Thomond Park this afternoon as they witnessed their beloved Munster advance into the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup.
It turned out to be a lot more difficult than many expected as the men from the south came up against a determined Biarritz team which matched Munster for power and flair.
Munster’s defensive frailties at the start of game were in evidence again when just like in the match last week they gave away a soft try after 10 minutes. Milheres crossed the line to give the visitors the lead and cancel out Ronan O’Gara’s earlier penalty. Franco Botica duly applied the conversion.
This early shock appeared to waken Munster who began to get a hold on the game. Anthony Foley, who was to finish with a hat-trick of tries, provided an almost instant reply to Milheres’ try going over in the corner for O’Gara to convert and restore the Munster lead at 8-7.
Biarritz were not prepared to lie down and silenced the crowd for the second time when Stewart Legg found a gap in the Munster defence and was in for an unconverted try, giving his team a 12-8 lead.
The two sides exchange penalties before the ever-reliable O’Gara gave his team a slight 17-15 half-time lead after converting two more penalties.
Munster were flying after the interval and were rewarded for their industry when Foley got his second try of the game which O’Gara converted. An O’Gara penalty shortly after gave Declan Kidney’s men a 27-15 lead and it looked to all as if they would cruise into the semis.
Foley’s third try seemed to further suggest this, as the number eight linked up with skipper Mick Galway to go over in the corner. The try was unconverted but with the clock ticking away Munster had themselves a sizeable 32-15 lead.
Again Biarritz came back at Munster, and Bonnet provided a glimmer of hope in breeching the Munster defense for a try. The glimmer became a lot brighter when Milheres crossed over again for a converted try which left the score at 35-29 with five minutes still on the clock.
Munster were not to be denied and Ronan O’Gara delivered once again with an injury time penalty to take his team into the semi-final with a final score of 38-29.