Montauban 13 Munster 39:MUNSTER'S INTEGRITY of endeavour, a hard-nosed focus, ruthless exploitation of opportunities and several brilliant individual performances, ensured that the Irish province claimed a home quarter-final in the Heineken Cup by virtue of yesterday's victory.

Those traditional qualities were once again in evidence as they eased towards what became a rout in the second half.

The reigning European champions had never won a final pool match in France, losing on the three previous occasions in 13 seasons, but in this their 14th campaign that record fell in the quiet town of Montauban. The French club were accommodating hosts, generous to a fault, including gift-wrapping three of Munster’s tries.

Cavalier decision-making near their own line cost Montauban dearly and their largesse ensured Munster managed to enjoy a buffer when periodically the game threatened to become a contest.

To dwell unduly on the home side’s shortcomings though would be to deny the Irish province the kudos they deserved, not least for several outstanding performances.

Munster captain Paul O’Connell certainly justified his man-of-the match accolade but he was pushed strongly by Tomás O’Leary, David Wallace and Keith Earls, all of whom excelled in a fine team effort. O’Connell produced a thundering display in the loose, with and without the ball and broached his typically high standards out of touch in leading by example.

O’Leary’s clever exploitation of the fringes, using his pace and strength, and his ability to pop up further out allowed him to pinch one try and set up another. Wallace’s ball-carrying gave his team-mates a target going forward while Earls, dancing feet in traffic and clever angle changes, could have scored at least two tries: others profited though not least fellow centre Lifeimi Mafi who crossed for a brace of tries.

The only concern for Munster, and indeed Ireland, was the leg injury suffered by Earls that saw him helped from the pitch on 68 minutes.

His replacement, Barry Murphy, certainly grasped his opportunity with alacrity, scoring his side’s final two tries.

The underfoot conditions were treacherous, a rain-sodden pitch cutting up and periodically causing many players to lose their footing. It contrasted appreciably with a pleasant sunny afternoon with barely a gentle breeze to trouble the place-kickers.

Munster started promisingly, facilitated initially when Montauban outhalf Regis Lespinas put the kick-off out on the full. In some respects it epitomised the home side’s facility to create pressure for themselves with some lamentable decision-making and execution.

It was the visitors, though, who initially undermined their own ambitions conceding five penalties in their first 14 minutes, two of which Montauban scrumhalf Julien Audy posted to give his side a 6-0 lead.

Munster’s nerves would have become even more fraught when Ronan O’Gara required three minutes’ attention before gingerly clambering from a prone position, clutching his shoulder. It affected him for several minutes and certainly was an issue when the French side made a couple of line breaks in the first 20 minutes, but O’Gara recovered to deliver his customary assured performance. He occasionally moved to first centre with Paul Warwick fulfilling the pivot role as Munster varied the game intelligently.

The mistakes that had dogged their display in the first quarter – turnovers at ruck time, on several occasions in sight of the Montauban posts – gradually disappeared as they began to dominate territory and, even more impressively, field position.

O’Leary scored his side’s first try on 21 minutes, initially harrying Audy into a mistake, hacking on and although Montauban fullback Julien Laharrague rescued possession, from a five-metre scrum he inexplicably elected to run from behind his own line only to be collared in the in-goal area. Munster tweaked the scrum and O’Leary demonstrated excellent leg drive to force his way over with a little help from several colleagues.

O’Gara’s touchline conversion and a penalty on 28 minutes saw Munster lead 10-6 at the interval and while they had to survive a couple of line breaks from a periodically emboldened home team, the European champions were handed the ideal start to the second half when Mafi crossed for his first try after superb work by Doug Howlett, Ian Dowling and O’Connell.

When the Munster centre grabbed his second on 54 minutes it appeared Munster would be in a position to freewheel through the final half an hour or so but a try from former Scotland international Scott Murray meant at 22-13 the Irish side had to apply themselves once again.

Peter Stringer replaced O’Leary before Earls’ enforced departure and the latter’s replacement, Murphy, capitalised on a howler from Vilimoni Delasau, although the Fijian claimed he got to the loose ball first over his own line.

Munster coach Tony McGahan was then in a position to empty the bench on a phased basis, something that his counterpart Laurent Labit had done virtually from the opening whistle in the second half. O’Connell, O’Gara, John Hayes – once again typically industrious – joined O’Leary in the stands but it didn’t affect Munster’s patterns as they continued to apply pressure.

There was little contention about Murphy’s second try in the dying throes of the game, profiting from a chasm in the home defence to change his angle intelligently and canter 40 metres without a pursuer in sight. Warwick’s conversion was the final act of the match. Munster mightn’t have anticipated such a facile victory but they weren’t quibbling. Their performance in the final 60 minutes earned them that respite from stress.

The odyssey continues, an 11th successive journey to the knock-out stages, and one whose next chapter will be in the comforting environs of Thomond Park.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 10 mins: Audy penalty, 3-0; 18: Audy penalty, 6-0; 21: O’Leary try, O’Gara conversion, 6-7; 28: O’Gara penalty, 6-10. Half-time: 6-10. 42: Mafi try, 6-15; 54: Mafi try, O’Gara conversion, 6-22; 58: Murray try, Mitu conversion, 13-22; 69: O’Gara penalty, 13-25; 70: Murphy try, O’Gara conversion, 13-32; 79: Murphy try, Warwick conversion, 13-39.

MONTAUBAN: J Laharrague; A Figueiredo, J Viard, S Paku, V Delasau; R Lespinas, J Audy; B Balan, B Mach, N Adams; M Rolland (capt), S Murray; Y Caballero, I Diarra, M Clarkin. Replacements: G Shvelidze for Balan (half-time); K Ghezal for Rolland 45 mins; S Florea for Adams 48 mins; P Mitu for Audy 50 mins; M Avramovic for Paku 55 mins; R Frost for Caballero 65 mins; F Fortassin for Laharrague 69 mins; Balan for Mach 75 mins.

MUNSTER: P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O’Gara, T O’Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell (capt); A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: P Stringer for O’Leary 55 mins; B Murphy for Earls 68 mins; F Pucciariello for Hayes 68 mins; D Ryan for O’Connell 70 mins; N Ronan for Leamy 70 mins; D Fogarty for Flannery 75 mins; D Hurley for O’Gara 75 mins.

Referee: D Pearson (England).