Cheika happy to get back to basics

RUGBY:OF THE two coaches, needless to say Leinster's Michael Cheika was much the happier, not only with the result but the performance. Gordon D'Arcy was their only injury concern with a thigh injury, but should be okay, and the way Cheika described it the win which gave them a seven-point buffer over Munster was almost a bonus.

“I just thought we really improved the areas we were poor at against Connacht, physicality, body height, a lot of basics just to be in the game. That’s all we said, let’s come down here, get those basics right, be in the game building towards next week and then see what happens. If it’s going well we might get a bounce of the ball and 16-15 is pretty tight. That’s just about taking your opportunity.”

The Magners League offers no bigger scalp a week before hosting Clermont in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals than Munster at Thomond Park. “I think it’s a very pleasing win because it gives us more self-belief going forward.”

Munster coach Tony McGahan was phlegmatic about the defeat. “We fought very hard and I thought it was a very marginal point at the end. There were a number of differences and that’s what top-quality matches come down to, kicks and bounces of the ball and interpretations that go your way or don’t.”

He maintained there were positives to the Munster performance too: “I thought we fought very hard at the breakdown, we defended well for the majority of the game. Our kicking game was solid.”

Rarely looking like they would score a try, McGahan said: “They’re an excellent defensive side. Kurt (McQuilkin) has done an excellent job there. After half-time we looked to get a little more direct and look to get some numbers on them on the reload but they matched up very well, spoilt a lot of our ball and subsequently we were playing off slow ball.”

Donncha O’Callaghan bemoaned his yellow card and the team’s discipline, and McGahan admitted: “Some of the stuff we did was crazy. We’ve got to trust our defence and some of our players did things for themselves. We need to regroup this week in a competition we let ourselves down in last season and one that means an awful lot to us,” said McGahan, who added there were no additional injuries and Paul O’Connell “should be fine” for their Heineken Cup quarter-final at home to Northampton.