Staunton seals gutsy victory

Scorelines can tell lies but this one doesn't. It was that good. Munster started badly. They were up against a street-wise side of achievers with a damned good defence. They trailed by 18-3, by 21-9 at the break, and by 34-23 with eight minutes to go, yet won with a stirring second-half comeback studded by four tries, all of which speaks volumes for their character as well as their ability.

This was one of the great Irish days in the European Cup, and even though Irish rugby has known a fair few, based purely on the circumstances and the standard of the opposition, it was arguably the greatest of them all. It was certainly right up there, and for sheer character outshines any of the scalps Munster have taken on home soil.

Saracens, it is true, shot themselves in the foot on a number of occasions, not least with a spate of forward substitutions when seemingly on the road to victory, panicky running from deep when unnecessary and a number of costly turnovers. But it took a good side to maximise them, which Munster did, and it's doubtful whether any of the Irish provinces have ever been good enough to do this in the past.

Indeed, so creative was this Munster performance that they actually might have scored more. Their pack took a while to get going and accorded Saracens the kind of disrespect and naked hostility which they traditionally reserve for teams when playing at home. It would, however, be churlish not to credit the lot of them here.

Mick Galwey and Anthony Foley were quite outstanding, Galwey rolling back the years with a vintage performance in the ball-carrying and nitty gritty departments. Foley is simply playing his best and most mature rugby ever. The front-row took all five opponents thrown at them and at the death scrummaged them into the ground; the woefully timed arrival of Paul Wallace predictably constituting a red rag to a bull and an even greater effort.

Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara had mixed afternoons, doing some things well only to occasionally fail in the basics, and are possibly amongst those whom Declan Kidney said were disappointed with their performances. Curiously, so too might Mike Mullins, probably the most creative and penetrating player in the match, who missed some tackles.

As for Jeremy Staunton, words cannot put him in context. Perhaps under orders to kick for the most part, his was a relatively controlled display (and these things are relative) until the boy wonder, in his first full start at full back, came up with the match-winning try.

To begin with though, as with many of Munster's abortive sorties abroad, they made the worst possible start. O'Gara had regathered his own clever short kick-off, but from Stringer's poor pass the outhalf's kick to the corner was cut off by the deep-lying Ryan Constable.

Munster duly lost the ensuing aerial ping-pong, ending with Thierry Lacroix's grubber to the corner forcing Horgan to concede a line-out deep inside the Munster 22. Almost inevitably, after the initial maul had been held up, Grau plunged over on the fringe.

Lacroix tagged on a penalty before O'Gara settled Munster with a monster penalty. With the breeze behind them, Munster's first-half tactics clearly revolved around playing a territorial game in Saracens' half but although most of his line-kicking was excellent, O'Gara's kick out on the full was punished to the maximum.

Danny Grewcock ploughed through Stringer from the next phase, and scrum-half Nick Walshe spun out of Mullins's poor tackle for a soft try under the sticks which Mark Mapletoft converted. Lacroix added another penalty to make it 18-3.

Flawed Sarries' set-pieces saw the home side cough up a couple of penalties although in fairness the Munster pack had been starting to tear into the rucks in numbers and at great ferociously, and they began to up the tempo further despite another Lacroix penalty.

Alas, sustained pre-interval pressure from the 35th minute on failed to yield a score, captain Francois Pienaar blatantly bringing down one maul, Munster twice getting over the Sarries line, but twice also seeing their scrum buckle.

Even so, they'd done enough to lose their inferiority complex, and whatever the Munster brainstrust said at half-time, their players began the second half where they left off, this time with even more vigour. Remarkably, within seven minutes of the restart they were ahead.

From O'Gara's astute kick, Pienaar broke up the blind side of a Saracens' line-out maul without support and the mighty Alan Quinlan won the turnover. From the recycle, Mullins ran onto O'Gara's pass diagonally and at pace for a classic inside centre's outside break, offloading with perfect timing for Killian Keane's perfectly-timed support run. Pacey it was too. O'Gara converted.

Another huge touchfinder from O'Gara established the next platform. Then, from the out-half's chip ahead, Mapletoft was swallowed up. Foley rucked the turnover ball and Mullins immediately came from the deep, calling for Stringer's blind side pass. It wasn't a good one, low and far in front of Mullins, but the centre quick-wittedly volleyed the ball through a gap and gathered it on the bounce to score in the corner.

O'Gara's touchline conversion put Munster ahead but Sarries came again. Another Lacroix penalty restored their lead, followed by a fine try under the posts by centre Jeremy Thomson.

A Lacroix penalty made it 34-23 and seemed to leave Munster dead and buried entering the last 10 minutes.

But there was an inner resolve and belief about Munster now. Eight minutes from time their renewed pressure told when Foley tapped a penalty to himself and was driven over.

The missed conversion appeared costly, but back Munster came. Sarries somehow withstood two rolling mauls in the left corner, but Munster had a plan B, and after O'Gara had been held up he offloaded in the tackle to Mullins. The centre threw a lengthy skip pass creating a two-to-one overlap which Staunton converted into a try by taking Rob Thirlby on the inside for a better conversion angle, which O'Gara kicked.

Saracens continued to attack, although Munster's defence was sound. Cue the full-time whistle. Suddenly Vicarage Road sounded like Thomond Park. Utterly deserved.

Scoring sequence: 2 mins Grau try 5-0; 6 mins Lacroix pen 8-0; 13 mins O'Gara pen 8-3; 17 mins Walshe try, Mapletoft con 15-3; 22 mins Lacroix pen 18-3; 24 mins O'Gara pen 18-6; 26 mins O'Gara pen 18-9; 33 mins Lacroix pen 21-9; 43 mins Keane try, O'Gara con 21-16; 46 mins Mullins try, O'Gara con 21-23; 48 mins Lacroix pen 24-23; 54 mins Thomson try, Lacroix con 31-23; 66 mins Lacroix pen 34-23; 72 mins Foley try 34-28; 77 mins Staunton try, O'Gara con 34-35.

SARACENS: M Mapletoft; R Constable, J Thomson, K Sorrell, R Thirlby; T Lacroix, N Walshe; R Grau, G Chuter, J White, S Murray, D Grewcock, R Hill, T Diprose, F Pienaar (capt). Replacements: K Chesney for Murray (54 mins), P Ogilvie for Hill (54 mins), D Flatman for Grau (61 mins), P Wallace for White 63 mins).

MUNSTER: J Staunton; J Kelly, K Keane, M Mullins, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; P Clohessy, K Wood, D Wallace, M Galwey (capt), J Langford, A Quinlan, A Foley, J Hayes.

Referee: D Mene (France).