Wasps survive Munster storm

Pool Five/ London Wasps 24 Munster 23: Munster, as you expected they might, rediscovered their old Munster fire, fury and brimstone, put their bodies on the line against the reigning champions and twice built up a 10-point lead in a compelling, fluctuating contest and then had chances to reprieve the day. Hence, you couldn't but feel this was one that got away.

For all the ebb and flow and the many outstanding performances on both sides, ultimately, too, some crucial decisions by referee Malcolm Changleng went a long way toward deciding the outcome, none more than the decision to not sinbin Fraser Waters early in the second half and the yellow card for Marcus Horan in the 56th minute.

In any event, the coolly composed Danny Cipriani landed the penalty for Horan's indiscretion and in Horan's absence Ricky Flutey cut through a thin red line and Donncha O'Callaghan's despairing tackle for lock George Skivington to score the match-winning try on the hour off Tom Voyce's offload.

There had, it's been true, a try in Wasps' running game, James Haskell (full of dynamism and wonderful footwork) and Paul Sackey in turn failing to put Cipriani away quickly enough after exposing chinks in the defences of Jerry Flannery and Lifeimi Mafi.

Admittedly too, for all their fury, and partly because of it, there was always likely to be a yellow card for Munster. As is his wont, Alan Quinlan played on the edge more than anyone. He survived killing a ball under the Munster posts and following through with an arm on Voyce.

That said, as is also Quinlan's wont, this came with a huge all-round performance. Staying on his feet and pumping his legs in countless carries when seemingly hopelessly outnumbered, physical in contact, duelling with and neutralising Lawrence Dallaglio, he was magnificent, and so his World Cup treatment beggars belief more than ever.

His performance was typical of the Munster forwards. The setpieces emerged about dead level even before the late, uncontested scrums, Mick O'Driscoll and Simon Shaw coming up with one big steal apiece.

Thereafter, there's only way to take on Wasps and Munster were ferocious in the tackle, while for all the bleating of the home team and media, they counterrucked superbly. Flannery, O'Callaghan, David Wallace and the rest - not one took a backward step, Tony Buckley also joining in the fun.

Ronan O'Gara also continued his remarkable return to form, pulling the strings majestically, varying his game adroitly. All told, 16 of Munster's points emanated from O'Gara's rich repertoire of kicks.

The battle at scrumhalf was a royal Irish one. Peter Stringer, too, announced a return to form, not only in his sharpness to the breakdown but in the crispness of his flat, speedy pass. His industry was well illustrated by his ability to hold up Sackey over the line and have the wit to put an arm under Sackey's and the ball, preventing the try.

There was also his clever box-kicking, which earned the scrum from which O'Gara, Mafi and Tipoki worked a wonderfully incisive 10-12-13 try through the Wasps' defence like the proverbial knife through butter.

So too, mind, did Eoin Reddan's box kick in the swirling Coventry wind lead to Flutey's slightly fortuitous try, the ball eluding Anthony Horgan and bouncing up conveniently for Wasps in the lead-up to the score. And few among the Red Army will be convinced that Horgan's selection after a month's absence ahead of Iain Dowling was justified.

Reddan's pass may not be quite as quick as Stringer's, but in his speed to the breakdown, livewire pulling of the strings and sniping, he too showed his undoubted all-round class and key playmaking influence with the European champions. The pair of them were light years ahead of Isaac Boss's effort for Ulster on Friday night, and as is the way with wonderfully high-tempo, fluctuating contests such as this, both scrumhalves played well.

Unfortunately, in the absence of Paul O'Connell, restart receptions undid much of Munster's good first-half work. But the sheer doggedness with which they regained the initiative and the lead by the interval set the tone of their performance. The double hit by Quinlan and Wallace on the ever dangerous and heavily utilised Sackey, with Flannery and Stringer quickly in to pilfer the ball - helped by the unforgettable sight of Buckley handing off the giant Simon Shaw - lifted a Wasps siege at 13-all.

Further steals by Leamy and Flannery, either side of a Quinlan block-down, culminated in that most exquisite of chips by O'Gara for the team manager, Shaun Payne, to pounce for a 20-13 interval lead.

Wasps, it has to be said, were the stronger second-half team and also the more accurate and more disciplined. Quinlan, so strong again on the resumption in setting the tone for Munster, undid an attacking platform by coming through on Dallaglio at a Munster lineout inside the Wasps 22, and the three-pointers conceded by O'Callaghan, for not rolling away, and Horan, were avoidable. Less so the 80th-minute penalty for not rolling away against a non-existent Munster player.

Wasps' renowned defence kept Munster and O'Gara out of drop-goal range in a nail-biting endgame, Raphaël Ibañez effectively ending the contest by ripping the ball from Leamy's grasp

The bottom line: Munster did not score a point in the last 36 minutes.

Yet it still felt like one that got away.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: O'Gara pen 0-3; 8: Cipriani pen 3-3; 17: O'Gara pen 3-6; 20: Tipoki try, O'Gara con 3-13; 30: Cipriani pen 6-13; 31: Flutey try, Cipriani con 13-13; 40(+4): Payne try, O'Gara con 13-20 (half-time 13-20); 44: O'Gara pen 13-23; 53: Cipriani pen 16-23; 57: Cipriani pen 19-23; 60: Skivington try 24-23.

LONDON WASPS: M van Gisbergen; P Sackey, F Waters, R Flutey, T Voyce; D Cipriani, E Reddan; T Payne, R Ibañez, N Adams; S Shaw, G Skivington; J Haskell, T Rees, L Dallaglio (capt). Replacements: J Hart for Dallaglio (53 mins), M Holford for Payne (66 mins), J Ward for Adams (73 mins), D Leo for Holford (79 mins). Not used: R Birkett, S Amor, R Hoadley.

MUNSTER: S Payne; B Carney, R Tipoki, L Mafi, A Horgan; R O'Gara (capt), P Stringer; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll; A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy. Replacements: T Buckley for Hayes (35 mins), T O'Leary for Payne (77 mins), A Foley for Buckley, J Paringati for Horan (both 79 mins). Not used: F Sheahan, P Warwick, I Dowling.

Referee: M Changleng(Scotland).