Galwey salutes a fine effort

Just one more scrum but this time it was in the corridor outside the Munster Branch offices in the bowels of the stand at Thomond Park and those doing the shoving were the media. A table and a handful of chairs constituted the interview arena as the press descended on the Munster deputation for their views on yet another Heineken European Cup victory.

Coach Declan Kidney, captain Mick Galwey and three-try hero Anthony Foley sat shoulder to shoulder behind the small table; chairs were eventually found to accommodate Ronan O'Gara and man-of-the-match Alan Quinlan. The initial surge of tape recorders and cameras was followed by a nervous silence until finally Galwey was prevailed upon to set the process in motion.

It was symptomatic of the whole afternoon. Biarritz's reluctance to accept their fate meekly, their persistence, passages of fine rugby, four-try haul and doggedness right up until Ed Morrison's final whistle, ensured that the Munster supporters in the 13,300 crowd were treated to a rather fretful afternoon.

The unease permeated the player's consciousness as O'Gara explained: "The crowd were fantastic but when I arrived and the crowds gathered to welcome the bus, the first thing I thought of was shades of Twickenham. It was not a sight I liked and said this to Claw (Peter Clohessy) as we were getting off the bus."

Munster felt that they were on a hiding to nothing in that the pre-match hype had speculated not on victory but the margin of same. Galwey paid tribute to Biarritz, pointing out that their performance rubbished the pre-match assertions: "It was probably our toughest game that we have ever played in the Heineken Cup in Thomond Park and that's a credit to Biarritz.

"To have four tries scored against you and still come out on top has to be a good performance. They are a very good side and we knew it was going to be tough. Going into the last few minutes we were up six points and that's the worst kind of lead you can have in rugby, but once we got the penalty, well, we have great faith in Ronan (O'Gara).

"People had written them off but we had studied them and realised that they had some very good players and we knew that we were going to have to play for 80 minutes plus and it showed at the end. We are just delighted to be in the semi-final."

One of the glaring characteristics of this Munster squad and management team is the level-headedness and down-to-earth attitude that peppers conversation. Kidney, when asked to comment on several outstanding individual performances - both Foley and Quinlan were singled out in the question - laughed: "they did okay."

He pointed out that that it was the tackle count in the second half that won Munster the match.

Foley smiled when asked if he had ever before scored three tries and not been voted man-of-the-match. "It doesn't really worry me about those things. We have a little phrase that we try to be as good as we can be when we go out on the pitch and if that means you're not playing at your max (maximum) but you give it your all, that's all we want."

Quinlan was another who looked desperate to escape the limelight. "The front five were outstanding. They gave a good platform for Anthony, myself and David Wallace and that contributed hugely to our game as a unit."

Biarritz were generous in defeat. Outhalf Frano Botica said afterwards: "I didn't find the atmosphere hostile, in fact I thought the crowd was fantastic." He also pointed to the sin-binning of prop Denis Avril as a huge drawback for the visitors.

Scottish wing Stuart Legg echoed Botica's sentiments, admitting that Biarritz had not taken opportunities especially one late on in the game when a blatant overlap was ignored. He also pointed to indiscipline which gave O'Gara an opportunity to punish them. Far from despondent, Biarritz will take away the memories of a fine performance that came up a little short.

They are not unfamiliar sentiments for visiting teams as they watch the gates of Thomond Park disappear in the distance.