MUNSTER COACH Tony McGahan believes the Heineken Cup champions were very lucky to come away with a win against unlikely and potential giant-killers, Montauban. The result and the performance will serve as a wake-up call before the next assignment against old foes Sale at Edgeley Road next Sunday.

McGahan admitted afterwards: "The scoreline certainly suggests we were lucky to get away with a win. We were lucky to get a penalty in the 78th minute."

He added: "We've spoken all week about Montauban coming here with absolutely nothing to lose, that they would be looking to slow down the game. They just kept hanging in, kept hanging in and feeding off our mistakes and in the end it was a great escape.

"We did a lot of work on them, we knew they'd come to play, we knew they would be aggressive, kick a lot - all those things. We spoke about it today. There was no surprise in anything that occurred out there this evening from them."

On an evening when Munster made too many unforced errors, McGahan believes his team weren't a million miles away from turning line-breaks into scores. "We weren't far away, we had 10 to 12 line-breaks, most of those in the first half, and if we had converted a couple of those it may have been an easy night at the office. It wasn't to be."

McGahan bristled at a question that he might regret his suggestion during the week a bonus point was on the cards against unfancied opposition. "The question was asked do you think you can get five points. Normally, I said if we played to our ability five points would be there on offer. It's a completely different answer," he said.

A disappointed Jerry Flannery said Montauban deserved respect despite the fact they left a few big-name players at home. "We got out of jail in the end. We knew they wouldn't come here to make up the numbers . . . It didn't matter what sort of a side they'd send over.

"We knew the media would make a big story of it that they left their bigger names at home. It makes for a good story, maybe not giving the tournament enough respect. We've seen from the past, when we played Clermont last year at home, they're good sides and there is no such thing as an easy game in the Heineken Cup."

Montauban coach Laurent Travers said: "It's the 'nearly won' idea that upsets me - we could have won this . . . there was never any question we were throwing this game."