Ferocious encounter of the Celtic kind

Musgrave Park Post-match reaction: Gerry Thornley gets the views of the players and coaches after another epic encounter between two arch rivals

Just as expected, if not quite what the two medical staffs would have ordered. No meeting of any of the four provinces is ever likely to be a tea party and a Munster-Ulster rematch was of European Cup intensity, as the European champions' renewal of rivalries with Leinster is sure to be as well. This was a ferocious battle.

"From the stand it looked it, but when you get the European Cup winners against the Celtic League winners, that's what you're going to get, isn't it?" Declan Kidney commented rhetorically.

"And it's not exactly going to be a game of touch next week either I don't think," said Kidney, in reference to the European Cup semi-final rematch with Leinster at Lansdowne Road.

"But to dig that deep in the first game back for some players . . . they must be very good players."

Paul O'Connell accepted that there was an understandable lack of cohesion in much of what Munster did, especially at lineout time.

"We changed things around a bit (in the second half). No matter how much you practise on the training ground, you don't get a real test until you're competing against a team. They've always had a very good defensive lineout so we struggled a bit in the first half, but I think turned it around well in the second half.

"We just sharpened up. It's down to concentration and things like that. If someone takes a bit off the throw, or a bit off the lift, you tend not to harp on it on the training ground. We just upped our concentration and tidied up the way we were doing things."

"Credit to Andy (Kiriacou)," interjected Kidney. "He kept going for the top of the jump. The easy thing to do would have been to start underthrowing, but he didn't do that. His first game like that, and he has an Irish qualification as well."

O'Connell also admitted that two of the lost lineouts were due to himself and Alan Quinlan coming in too close "and what is a perfect throw looks like an overthrow".

"There was a good dogged determination there. I think everybody knew it wasn't going to be a very pretty performance. I think the first game back after 14 weeks for a lot of us, we all agreed there was going to be a lot of mistakes and it was the positivity with which we reacted to those games would win it for us.

"The last 20 minutes wasn't pretty but we closed it out like a good team should."

The significance of the win was that Munster moved to within seven points of Ulster with a game in hand.

"One win out of four would have looked very bleak for us," O'Connell conceded. "I think Ulster will be disappointed. They've been playing outstanding for the last few games and probably didn't bring their best game down. But it's great to have two wins out of four and be back in it."

Mark McCall's expression alone would have echoed that sentiment: "It was a very physical match. It makes it doubly frustrating to lose, to not get any bonus points and to lose some players with injuries.

"At 15-13 we made a number of line breaks which ultimately came to nothing and we weren't able to sustain pressure on them. We either gave away a penalty or turned the ball over, which allowed them to get some setpieces in our 22. And they're very good at sensing those situations, upping the ante and building pressure to get themselves in front. But it's very frustrating."

While he couldn't fault the effort of his players, McCall lamented the occasional loss of discipline "and maybe some poor decisions on the halfway line when we needed to build some pressure on them".

Kieran Campbell headed toward the bus home lamenting the first yellow card of his career.

"Even Rags (John Kelly) told the referee it didn't really impede him that much. I've lost my Gary Lineker record now."

Well, Lineker wouldn't have survived very long in this company.