Hint of real crisis stokes Munster fire

Pool Five/Munster 22 Llanelli 13:In their rich Heineken European Cup history, Munster have been in bigger pickles perhaps, but not too many; 66 minutes gone, defending just a four-point lead into a stiff breeze and down to 14 men against a fired-up, talented team playing with freedom.

But it's a measure of them that even when not at their best, in their moment of potential crisis Munster rally round each other and find another gear.

Dropped from a week ago, Marcus Horan had let himself and his team down when earning a yellow card for punching his bugbear of a week ago, Deacon Manu, only 14 minutes after being introduced for Federico Pucciariello.

Indeed, the crisis seemed to be worsening moments later when the English referee - in arguably the low point of a very undistinguished performance - pinged Munster for not releasing when, not for the first or last time, a prone Simon Easterby had positioned himself the wrong side of the ball.

With Anthony Foley's leadership sacrificed for the returning Pucciariello, cue Denis Leamy and co. For the second week running, Leamy announced his return to form with a typical mix of ball-carrying, tackling and in-your-face physicality.

It was his rumble off a seven-man scrum and the ensuing penalty that relieved the pressure, and it was his monstrous hit on Alix Popham that forced the turnover from which 14-man Munster produced the move of the match.

Jerry Flannery was also growing into the match with his best performance of the season, taking the ball around the corners of rucks in his inimitable style, staying strong in contract to eke vital yards and presenting the ball diligently as the Scarlets continually worked to position the tackler or "first in" over the ball.

From Flannery's carry and quick recycle, Peter Stringer fed Ronan O'Gara, who skipped David Wallace for the livewire Rua Tipoki to release Lifeimi Mafi, and Shaun Payne calmly drew the last man in textbook fashion to put Brian Carney over in the corner.

Phew! Munster had some breathing space, all the more so with Popham binned for taking out Wallace off the ball, to survive a helter-skelter endgame as both sides suddenly gave a passable imitation of the Baa-Baas in the swirling wind.

The first two responsibilities of a referee in the context of a good game of rugby are to ensure players stay on their feet and to patrol the offside line; Pearson singularly failed in the former. Llanelli bodies spoiled at will, either slowing down or turning over ruck ball as they hunted in packs and isolated runners.

Try though they might, Mafi and Tipoki could not penetrate a diligent midfield defence where young Jonathan Davies and Regan King cleverly showed space and then cut it off.

O'Gara could not get enough purchase on his tactical kicks to beat the deep-lying Llanelli wingers as Munster played surprisingly large tracts of the first period in their own half. They were buoyed by an excellently taken early try by Flannery after Ian Dowling had ducked and weaved up the touchline, the Munster halves returning to the blindside a few phases later for Flannery to take O'Gara's skip pass, bounce Nathan Brew (whose tackling was cleverly targeted) and swivel through Morgan Stoddart to score determinedly by the corner flag.

But they also could not secure Stephen Jones's difficult, hanging restarts for love or money, and when the Llanelli outhalf hit the post with a penalty soon after, Mick O'Driscoll (who looked a little tired after a storming run of form lately) passed loosely for Tipoki to concede the five-metre scrum. Though Foley's defence led the way, a gap suddenly appeared for Jones to saunter round the posts and convert.

That softish seven points undid much of the good of Munster's sustained recycling and hard-earned three-pointers that followed; Dowling figuring prominently along with Tipoki for the first two either side of an alert steal by Stringer and Carney's counter before Leamy initiated and completed another bout of high-tempo running and rucking that culminated in a third O'Gara penalty and the binning of Ben Broster.

Munster could not capitalise on that or sustained pre-interval pressure on the Llanelli line, and clearly having learned their lessons from last week in Stradey, the Scarlets also worked their bodies into quicker and better positions on the defensive fringes to force turnovers and stifle Munster's close-in game into the wind.

There were more than a few scares along the way. When Carney was penalised for not rolling away, albeit after a telling tackle on Mark Jones, the nerves during some half-hearted renditions of The Fields were palpable, all the more so when Horan was yellow carded after an exchange of penalties by O'Gara and Jones, the first after a succession of high tackles by the Scarlets that enraged the crowd.

Cue Leamy and co to underline the competitive fire that burns within, resulting in that exquisite try.

Carney might have added the coup de grâce at the end, but a bonus point was hardly on the cards. On the day that was in it, unsurprisingly, four points made more than a decent haul. And just because Munster have done it so many times before doesn't make it any less commendable.

Scoring sequence: 5 mins: J Flannery try 5-0; 11: S Jones try and con 5-7; 16: R O'Gara pen 8-7; 24: O'Gara pen 11-7; 34: O'Gara pen 14-7 (half-time 14-7); 52: Jones pen 14-10; 61: O'Gara pen 17-10; 63: Jones pen 17-13; 73: Carney try 22-13.

MUNSTER: S Payne; B Carney, R Tipoki, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara (capt), P Stringer; F Pucciariello, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll; D Leamy, D Wallace, A Foley. Replacements: M Horan for Pucciariello (52 mins), D Ryan for O'Driscoll (64 mins), Pucciariello for Foley (71 mins). Not used: F Sheahan, N Ronan, G Hurley, P Warwick, K Lewis. Sinbinned: Horan (66 mins).

LLANELLI SCARLETS: M Stoddart; M Jones, R King, J Davies, N Brew; S Jones, D Peel; I Thomas, J Hayter, B Broster; V Cooper, A Eustace; S Easterby (capt), J Bater, A Popham. Replacements: D Manu for Stoddart (35-40+4 mins) and for Broster (58 mins), C Thomas for M Jones (48 mins), S MacLeod for Eustace, G Thomas for Bater (both 58 mins). Not used: D George, N Thomas, G Cattle. Sinbinned: Broster (33 mins), Popham (75 mins).

Referee: Dave Pearson (England).