Munster hold the fortress

European Cup/Munster - 15 NEC Harlequins 9: It seemed anybody who is anybody was at Thomond Park on Saturday. Clive Woodward was there. Eddie O'Sullivan and the rest of the Irish management were there. Even a Garda helicopter was suspended above the ground for much of the first half. As usual at this Munster citadel, any vantage point would do.

In the event, Harlequins very nearly stormed the place as Munster gave their supporters another bout of the heebie-jeebies in recording their 19th Heineken European Cup win in succession at the venue.

When Munster do eventually slip up at Thomond Park, as they assuredly must one day, it will probably be on a largely unexpected banana skin such as this, all the more so when you add the proverbial bar of soap to the mix.

Conditions had to be seen to be believed, and after the visitors won the toss and elected to play into the elements, the wind and rain stiffened even further virtually on the resumption.

Their approach in the first half was one purely of containment. The visitors twisted, pulled, collapsed, wheeled and generally disrupted the scrum.

In a decidedly undistinguished afternoon for the referee, Huw Watkins's premature binning of Marcus Horan and his opposing tight-head, Maurice Fitzgerald, not only failed to resolve matters but also suggested the occasion had simply got the better of him.

Harlequins brought one of the better defensive lineouts to Thomond Park, and though the arrival of Alan Quinlan helped steady the ship, the way the Harlequins forwards repeatedly went to ground with impunity as soon as Munster sought to get their famed drive going continued to disrupt.

Their best joy came from Paul O'Connell, Anthony Foley and co taking the ball over the gain line in contact, and when they did generate momentum through the phases they stretched Quins.

Ronan O'Gara and Christian Cullen had only two games together last season (the quarter- and semi-final) and in their fourth consecutive outing together this season there was further evidence of a growing understanding when they worked a classy loop off static ball for O'Gara to give Anthony Horgan a try-scoring run to the corner.

Jim Williams and Denis Leamy were immense at the breakdown, one of the former's many steals and bursts leading to Leamy's third try of the season, and one of Alan Gaffney's dilemmas was that his two impact replacements could only have replaced one of them or his Trojan skipper.

"We probably bombed a few tries in the first half and otherwise it could have been a different game," commented O'Gara, who admitted the riskiness of long passes and the fast-pressing Quins defence meant he had to carry the ball into contact more than he would have wished.

"A few of us got caught in communication as they pushed up harder and outside in. Maybe our communication will have to improve a little bit," he said.

His counterpart and one-time rival for the Munster outhalf role, Jeremy Staunton, was, ironically, making his first appearance of the European Cup in a number 10 jersey against Munster at Thomond Park. In what must in many ways have been the biggest test yet of his character, he came through it pretty well, quickly atoning for his first penalty miss and bouncing back after his sin-binning for a deliberate knock-on.

Varying his game well, he pinned Munster into the corners with some excellent long-range touch finds with the elements and brought his team to within a score with a couple of well-struck penalties, though opting for a late drop goal wasn't his smartest decision ever.

"It was a big game for me," he said. "I wanted to prove myself. In the second half I just wanted to get the ball down into their half, y'know, do what Rog does so well here, put it in behind Cully and Hoggy, go from there, because our lineout was pretty good.

"I have mixed emotions, to be perfectly honest. I think a few years ago, when I was 18, I would have tried to go out and take on Munster on my own. I'm not like that now, guys, trust me. You make your point by not deliberately making it, and I thought I did that okay today."

Reborn as an outhalf, and rejuvenated, he is clearly growing in confidence, and Harlequins grew in confidence here too. Williams's try-saving tackle on Will Greenwood was the high point of a barnstorming display by the Wallaby Warrior, and, sport having this knack of throwing up such scripts, one had visions of Staunton addressing a conversion to end the record, especially when Munster opted for a fruitless penalty to the corner at six points up in the 73rd minute.

O'Gara and Foley explained the thinking, Gaffney defended it fully, but Quins coach Marc Evans had his own take on it.

"When they went to the corner when they were six points up, I thought 'you cheeky bastards', 'cause that was a brainless decision. They're six points up in the last 10 minutes and they kick to the corner? I wasn't very happy with that. I thought 'you arrogant . . .' Rog is not a bad place kicker, is he? It was 15 metres in and I thought it was a gimme."

Munster dug it out, and so weren't left to rue that decision, not least thanks to John Hayes's big hit on Ace Tiatia in the nerve-jangling endgame. It wasn't vintage Munster, but this was the type of win they'll take heart from. One would still make them favourites for the return meeting on the last weekend of the pool stages at Twickenham, which will be akin to another home match. More pressing tests await, starting in the grassy Gnoll next Sunday.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 11 mins: Staunton pen 0-3; 13: Horgan try 5-3; 24: Leamy try, O'Gara con 12-3; 39: O'Gara pen 15-3 (half-time 15-3); 46: Staunton pen 15-6; 67: Staunton pen 15-9.

MUNSTER: C Cullen; M Lawlor, J Kelly, R Henderson, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, T Hogan, P O'Connell, J Williams, A Foley, D Leamy. Replacements: G McIlwham for Leamy (12-22 mins), A Quinlan for Williams (63 mins). Sin-binned: Horan (12 mins).

HARLEQUINS: G Duffy; G Harder, W Greenwood, D James, S Keogh; J Staunton, S So'oialo; C Jones, T Fuga, M FitzGerald, R Winters, S Miall, N Easter, T Diprose, A Vos. Replacements: M Worsley for Easter (13-22 mins) and for Fitzgerald (26 mins), A Tiatia for Fuga (56 mins), Fuga for Easter (58-68 mins), O Palepoi for Miall (72 mins), L Sherriff for Easter (68 mins). Sin-binned: Fitzgerald (12 mins), Staunton (21 mins), Tiatia (58 mins).

Referee: Hugh Watkins (Wales).