Celtic League: Munster 12 Llanelli 11 Short 20 of their contracted squad, Munster were duly shorn of their 20-match unbeaten home record stretching back to December 16th, 1995, writes Gerry Thornley at Thomond Park.
There was no shame in losing to a Llanelli side which defended like dervishes and controlled the ball much better for most of the night.
The ominous feeling about this one wasn't helped by a dark inclement night, nor Munster's unfamiliar blue strip against the visiting scarlets, and in truth the sense of impending defeat gathered momentum and never went away from early in the second-half.
"Not good enough," was Alan Gaffney's blunt and fair assessment.
"It's hard to win a game without the ball," he added, highlighting Llanelli's mortal inroads into their lineout and Munster's inability to hold onto a greasy ball in contact. Even a belated sense of urgency was undermined by what Gaffney described as a lack of ideas.
Initially strong running by the all-action Denis Leamy and Jerry Flannery set up early penalty opportunites for Jeremy Staunton, the second of which he kicked, but one unrelenting pick-and-go drive pack took Llanelli to within inches of the Munster line and with the home scrum under pressure, they encamped in Munster territory.
Mike Phillips, their 21-year-old scrumhalf, is cut very much from the Terry Holmes cloth and with the evergreen Scott Quinnell-Emyr Lewis backrow combination patently fired up, Munster's fringe defence had to be rocklike.
Either side of Gareth Bowen's deserved equalising penalty, Lewis spilled the ball when met head-on by Trevor Hogan and David Wallace, very strong defensively, drove Phillips back in the tackle to earn a relieving penalty. Nothing wrong with his shoulder there.
Nor when he hit the line from the ensuing lineout move, Staunton restoring the lead with a mammoth 50-metre penalty, but failing with an angled penalty when Ian Boobyer was sinbinned for a repeat offence.
Upon the resumption Llanelli had clearly twigged that Eddie Halvey was virtually Munster's sole lineout option, and Wyatt having pipped him to a Flannery throw, Bowen landed a drop goal via the upright and a penalty to put Llanelli ahead.
Although John Davies was binned for off-the-ball obstruction, Wyatt was wreaking carnage on the Munster lineout, and another steal led to Leamy being binned and Bowen landing a close-range penalty. Quinnell was penalised for playing the ball on the deck after good scrambling by Williams and Staunton landed a fine, much-needed 45-metre penalty.
However, when Bowen converted his own try after charging down an attempted touch find by Killian Keane, a hush fell over the ground. Now the unbeaten Thomond record was seriously imperiled. Cue a rousing roar, which reached a crescendo with Simon Kerr's pacey rumble up the middle and Staunton's ensuing penalty for 12-16.
Munster injected a ferocious tempo into their runing game now, but with Llanelli surviving by hook or by crook, Staunton missed another 40-metre effort soon after and the pick of Barry Davies' many well-judged kicks in behind the blue line found touch within inches of the Munster corner flag, pinning the home side where they least wanted to be.
Despite the critical situation, there was a warm round of applause for Quinnell when he was stretchered off after a lengthy stoppage, then full-throated encouragement for Munster's attempts to work the ball, ruck by ruck, inch by inch upfield, albeit desperately. Llanelli forced a turnover and a last-kick penalty by Bowen to seal a deserved win.
Munster really couldn't have any complaints.
Scoring sequence: 6 mins: Staunton pen 3-0; 23: Bowen pen 3-3; 28: Staunton pen 6-3; (half-time 6-3); 43: Bowen drop goal 6-6; 56: Bowen pen 6-9; 60: Staunton pen 9-9; 67: Bowen try and con 9-16; 70: Staunton pen 12-16; 91: Bowen pen 12-19.
MUNSTER: J Staunton; S Payne, M Mullins, J Jones-Hughes, M Lawlor; K Keane, E Reddan; S Kerr, J Flannery, M Cahill, T Hogan, E Halvey, D Leamy, J Williams (capt), D Wallace.
Replacements: A Long for Flannery (50 mins), D Sheahan for Leamy (64 mins), J Danaher for Cahill (79 mins). Sinbinned: Leamy (55-56 mins),
LLANELLI: B Davies; T Selley, M Watkins, L Davies (capt), L Byrne; G Bowen, M Phillips; D Maddocks, A Gravelle, J Davies, A Jones, C Wyatt, E Lewis, S Quinnell, I Boobyer.
Replacements: N Williams for Lewis (52-61mins), V Cooper for Lewis (61 mins), D Burn for Phillips (63 mins), B Griffiths for Quinnell (82 mins). Sinbinned: Boobyer (30-40 mins), J Davies (50-60),
Referee: Gregg Davies (Scotland).
A report in yesterday's edition on changes in Leinster rugby inadvertently said that the province's scrummaging coach Roly Meates travelled to Murrayfield last week for discussions with Scottish Rugby Union officials. This should have read that Meates travelled last month.
