Munster go back to basics

Some things, it seems, never change. Munster predictably went back to basics, the forwards sticking the ball up their jumpers, or letting out-half Killian Keane kick for position.

Meanwhile, the sight of the red jerseys, far from inspiring a bull-like response from Connacht, saw them cower once more in sustaining a 12th successive defeat to the Munstermen. In the process, it was the worst game of the Guinness Intepros, by some distance.

Not that Munster will have cared too much. Necessity is the mother of invention - so the acute need for a win made invention an optional extra. Save for a few overly intricate midfield moves, the Munster threequarters hardly saw the ball.

Keane was probably under orders to sit in the pocket and kick the leather off the ball, which he did well, and this enabled Munster to control the throw.

Crucially, they lorded the lineouts, where Mark McDermott's excellent throwing in a tricky wind was highlighted by Connacht losing four of their throws; Shane Leahy's imposing frame guaranteed a steady flow of ball.

Their Shannon-dominated pack pummelled away all day long. The early trade-off of line-out-cum-maul tries in the opening 10 minutes hinted strongly at bonus points aplenty, but all it did was give the two packs, Munster's especially, delusions of grandeur.

One lost count of the times the Munster pack had set-pieces close to the Connacht line; but for all their burrowing away, the Connacht fringe defence never wilted. And so it wasn't until the last minute that Munster's second try finally sealed the win and denied Connacht a bonus point.

Declan Kidney pointed out that this was "the first time that Connacht had come away with no points from a game", a testimony of sorts to his team's performance. The winning margin might also have been greater. "We were over their line four times and we had seven penalties on their line with no return. Obviously we need to improve on that."

Perhaps, too, had Munster scored their second try sooner then they may have been able to relax and cut loose a little more. Unlikely though. Their performance was never pretty.

Kidney, clearly under pressure himself, acknowledged that Munster went back to basics "a little bit", but added: "I would hope it was not too much of a retrograde step."

A resigned and philosophical Connacht coach, Glenn Ross, could at least extract some measure of consolation in his team's excellent defence, but little else.

What especially disappointed him was "our lack of urgency at ruck time to clean out the ball. This enabled them [Munster] to reposition themselves." It also obliged Conor McGuinness, who was never at his peak on his seasonal return anyway, to become a part-time excavator for the afternoon.

The ubiquitous Ian Dillon, a feisty Limerick presence in a pack forever on the back foot, was a constant thorn in Munster's side, instigating several turn-overs in the tackle and putting in a phenomenal workload. But few others played well, and virtually the entire back-line was guilty of spilling ball.

Their scrum was good, until even it too cracked under pressure near the end, and they had three good try-scoring chances at 7-5 ahead in a misleading first quarter. It said a multitude about their line-out that after 70 minutes Graham Heaslip called a defensive line-out ball to himself at number one in the line.

Heaslip didn't help Bernard Jackman's cause when calling the substitute hooker's first throw to the tail of the line-out - it predictably fell a couple of yards short in the swirling wind, and Ross highlighted this as indicative of the poor decision-making.

As well as Simon Allnutt played, Connacht's general lack of leadership and experience highlighted the absence of Eric Elwood. Granted a week off in the first round of European Shield fixtures next week, Ross conceded that this was probably beneficial. "It will give them a chance to recharge the batteries."

For Munster, the win was a timely fillip before next Saturday's visit of Padova; they will resume the interpros in three weeks' time at home to Ulster just one point behind their visitors, with a sniff of the title in their nostrils again.

In normal mood, they'd have put this one away long before the end. Instead, Keane gradually inched them further ahead until Lacey, receiving his second pass of the day, scrambled over beyond the clutches of Nigel Carolan and McGuinness on the blind side from Tierney's long pass to score his ninth try in 10 outings for Munster. He'll probably be dropped again.