Kidney bemoans 'first 32 minutes'

Pool Five/Clermont Auvergne v Munster:A point here or a point there, denying opponents a point here or there; every little point had the potential to have massive repercussions in this earth-shuddering group.

Sure enough, reflecting back on round two, Vern Cotter's decision to rest 13 frontliners for the first meeting against Munster in Thomond Park now looks very costly indeed.

Had Clermont even denied Munster a bonus point for their five tries that day, even if they had lost, that point deduction from Munster's total this morning would have kept Clermont much more alive.

"You can always have regrets," Cotter said, before repeating a well-worn theme: "It was very early in our season, we had a longer-term game plan. It's very important for us to focus on how we go forward.

"We knew the significance of the bonus point today, that's why we tried the last-minute drop-goal to shut Munster out, but we're satisfied with the win and we need to look at where we're going to go forward from here.

"We knew that Munster had the quality to come back into the game. At the same time I was pleased with our guys' performance. This game could have gone either way and our guys worked hard to stay in it at the very end."

Cotter was clearly unhappy with what he saw as the inconsistencies of referee Rob Debney though was "proud of my boys".

"I think we're definitely long-odds outsiders of the three teams (in contention) now," he conceded.

"It was an easy game to analyse, wasn't it?" commented the Munster coach Declan Kidney.

"For 32 minutes of the first half we didn't have the ball and if you don't have the ball for 32 minutes against quality sides they'll hurt you. But at the same time we had the ball for eight minutes and that showed us that there was the possibility of scores if we could hold on to it.

"We seemed to be quite efficient when we did have the ball and we picked up points and that kept us in there.

"It was a real allez les bleus, wasn't it? When we had it we were looking to clear our lines. There was a bit of a breeze. We had quite a few turnovers in that first 32 minutes and just couldn't seem to get our hands on the ball. Whenever we went down there we seemed to cough it up very quickly and they counter-attacked very well.

"I'd never question lads' spirit but we just needed to have a real go at today's match and I'm quite hopeful that for that first 30 we'll take a bit of responsibility, and we won't make excuses.

"For whatever reasons we were off the mark in that first 30 and that will have to stand to us next week because we have to get the right mix of work and rest in the preparation for it."

Anthony Foley was not of a mind to use last week's postponement of the scheduled Magners League game in Ravenhill as a possible excuse for Munster's somewhat rusty and error-prone start.

"That was something out of our control," he said. "We played a bit of a game in Charleville and we hoped that would get us through it. But look, if you're going to allow them counter-attack like that you're going to be in trouble. Whether we won today, drew today or lost today, we'd still have had to win next week.

"So we knew that going into the game today it was important that we got something out of it. That's why we kept saying if we get the next score we can put pressure on them, and that's what we tried to do throughout the match. At the end the lads were having a crack from anywhere and we were still trying to get a draw out of the game."

Similarly to Kidney, Foley bemoaned Munster's lack of control in the opening half-hour or so, and specifically the fringe tackles by himself and David Wallace which failed to prevent the tries by Pierre Mignoni and Mario Ledesma, the Argentinian, socks rolled down as ever, unstinting in his ball-carrying and aggression.

Kidney had spoken during half-time of the need to hold on to the ball in contact and Foley added: "We got the game up to the pace of game we like to play. We got a bit of control on to the ball and put a bit of pace on to it. With the back line we have we're a dangerous outfit.

"It (the result) kind of half keeps it in our own hands," he added. "I'm sure all the permutations about tries and points will be looked into during the week so that we'll know exactly what has to be done.

"Wasps are coming to do to us what Leicester did last year and we need to focus in now and not get too carried away. There are lads inside disappointed but at least the point keeps us in the competition."