Irish number 10s get top marks

Rugby:Munster head coach Tony McGahan hailed match-winner Ronan O'Gara after the outhalf landed a dramatic last-gasp drop goal to deny Northampton a much-prized Heineken Cup win at Thomond Park last night.

O’Gara kicked a nerveless drop goal to help Ireland claim the Grand Slam at the Millennium Stadium in 2009 and his match-winning heroics against Northampton deep in added time rivalled it for drama.

Munster maintained possession for some 41 phases before he dropped back in the pocket to strike his winning kick. It undid the good work of Saints, last season’s beaten finalists, who maintained their discipline in defence and scored tries in each half from Chris Ashton and James Downey.

A delighted McGahan, whose side had touchdowns from Damien Varley and Doug Howlett, said: “It was something special. The belief in the group, the way they stuck at it for 80 minutes, a lesser side would maybe not even have been in the contest.

“Ronan O’Gara’s kick at the end, he’s a special person to do that, to show the bottle to put his hand up and make the kick. This felt like a Round Six encounter during the week when it actually was an opening-round game. There is a great sense of achievement for the group at this early stage.

“This competition is like six Test matches and we are approaching it in that fashion. The win gives us a great buzz.”

Northampton boss Jim Mallinder admitted his side was frustrated by the result and also by a number of decisions from referee Nigel Owens.

“The mood in the dressing room is low. The feel is one of frustration. That is the best term to use, frustration in terms of how that went,” he said. “We will look at ourselves. We did have a chance to at least score one other try, a good clear-cut opportunity when we knocked on.

“But I think the game did hinge on some crucial refereeing decisions. I felt the referee got quite a long wrong. I think it is as simple as that. It is difficult. It is an intimidating place to play with a cracking atmosphere.

“Sometimes you don’t always get the rub of the green and I think we will look back and probably say we did not quite get it.”

Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt, meanwhile, was not surprised that Jonathan Sexton held his nerve to salvage a 16-16 draw with the last kick of a pulsating game against Montpellier yesterday afternoon.

Fulgence Ouedraogo’s first-half try looked like it might have been enough to give Heineken Cup debutants Montpellier a fairytale win against the defending champions, only for the visitors to stage a stirring comeback.

Sean Cronin’s 66th-minute try gave them hope before the assured Sexton levelled things at 16-16 with a last-gasp penalty. The talismanic outhalf had missed with a much easier chance shortly before Cronin’s try but Schmidt felt Sexton could bounce back despite being jeered by the large home support as he lined up his final attempt.

“That’s typical Johnny,” said Schmidt. “I don’t think he was rattled by it at all. I think it helps him narrow his focus and get the job done, and he did that superbly.”

Leinster captain Leo Cullen felt a draw was a fair result, with the visitors’ late pressure finally taking its toll on a tiring Montpellier side. “We created some good opportunities in the first half when we played with a bit of pace,” he said.

“There were a couple of key moments in the game. We were attacking inside the 22 and turned the ball over and they went down the field and scored a try so that felt like a 14-point turnaround.

“Montpellier competed very well at the breakdown and we weren’t accurate enough in that area. At half-time we talked about being more clinical holding onto the ball and eventually we got over towards the end.”