IF during the rest of this season the Irish side enjoys the kind hand of fate as the fortune which smiled on it at Thomond Park yesterday, then the team could be in for a productive return from matches over the coming months.

Better late than never and it was certainly a late, late show which gave the Irish team a distinctly flattering one point win over Munster yesterday.

Trailing 21-10 as the match entered it final phase, Ireland got a try in the 70th minute when Denis McBride scored after a tapped penalty by scrum half and captain Niall Hogan, who transferred to Paul Burke a 46th minute replacement for David Humphreys at outside half for the Irish team. An attack down the left saw McBride go in for the try that brought Ireland back into the match. Simon Mason kicked a superb conversion and Munster's lead had been cut to four points.

The Irish side, which played very much better in the second half, attacked with more purpose and menace than they had revealed earlier but the Munster defence stood firm. And when a long relieving clearance went to touch at halfway - with the game in the first minute of injury time - it looked as if Munster, much to the delight of the 4,000 crowd, would prevail.

However a quick throw in by Mason initiated an attack from left to right and Denis Hickie, a replacement, had the pace to finish off with the decisive try.

It was hard to disagree with the assessment of Munster manager Colm Tucker that "the Munster team was very unlucky to lose". "We were very much the better side in the first half and did enough in the second period to win the match. But there was plenty to encourage us in the performance and I am confident we will do well in the interprovincial series and the European Cup."

The Irish team manager Pat Whelan and coach Murray Kidd also expressed their satisfaction at the positive aspects of the match. "We wanted to see certain combinations and we wanted to see Irish squad members playing against each other in a competitive situation," said Whelan.

It was never less than competitive and entertaining. Eight of the Ireland side had played very hard league matches in England on Saturday but Whelan dismissed the suggestion that asking them to play again might have been ill-advised. "These players are full-time professionals who are training daily It is not unreasonable to ask them to play on successive days," said Whelan.

Said Kidd: "It is early in the season; this Irish side has not played together and there would have been some mental tiredness and perhaps bruises from the previous day. But they ran those off as the game progressed and the Irish team played very much better in the second half and especially in the closing stages."

But it was the Munster pack who dominated in the initial period and number eight Barry Walsh was outstanding. "He was the best player on the pitch," said Tucker. "We are well aware of his abilities," said Whelan.

There was a sharpness and eagerness about Munster's play that was missing in the opposition. Munster rucked and mauled with much greater effect and Stephen McIvor, at scrum half, used the ball well. Full back Dominic Crotty also impressed.

After Killian Keane's two early penalties, Costello got a try for Ireland after a Munster attack broke down when Noel Healy's pass was intercepted by Jonathan Bell. Mason converted and Ireland led by a point. But for the remainder of the half, Munster looked and proved the better side. Foley's try and another penalty from Keane left Munster 14-7 ahead at the break.

The Irish side did improve but could make no inroads into the deficit. When McIvor got a try for Munster after a great movement was kept alive when Brian Walsh took a pass brilliantly from off his feet, Mick Lynch converted and Munster led 21-10.

Then came the powerful finish which yielded the Irish those tries from McBride and Hickie and the conversion from Mason. The casualty rate was high on the Irish side but Whelan said the initial indications were that no player sustained a serious injury, with a damaged ankle sustained by David Humphreys causing most concern. Gary Halpin had withdrawn from the Munster side after being injured playing for London Irish on Saturday. The Irish XV to meet Leinster next Sunday will be announced today.