Munster leave everything in cauldron

Biarritz 19 Munster 10: Once more into the breach and once more no one could fault them for sheer Munster cussedness, grit and effort to retrieve an apparently lost Heineken European Cup quarter-final cause when others would have raised the whitee flag. There was no shame in this defeat but once more, alas, Munster fell short again and, if anything, the search for their Holy Grail looks even more elusive than before.

We'll wonder what might have been if they'd been a little more disciplined in minimising the first-half damage to less than 16 unanswered points, if one or two decisions or bounces of the ball had gone with them, if injuries hadn't denied them four key players or if the structure of the season hadn't left them with so little match time together.

Trailing 16-0 at the break, David Wallace, Anthony Foley, Paul O'Connell, Rob Henderson and a fired-up Anthony Horgan and company pounded into contact as if it was their last game of rugby, none more so than an inspired Marcus Horan, punching holes in an increasingly frazzled home defence. John Kelly danced, so too did Shaun Payne. But they tried forcing the pass and, ultimately, they never got to within a score of Biarritz.

Still, it had been inestimably more competitive than any of the other quarter-finals or more so than anyone would have thought throughout much of the first half. The game was barely a minute old when the scarcely discernible 7,000-odd Munster supporters must have had that sinking feeling.

Stopping the famed Biarritz maul would have to be one of the planks of Munster's resistance, but from Paul Burke's kick-off return up the line, the home pack rumbled remorselessly for about 25 metres.

Paul O'Connell nicked the next Benoit August throw and three times Munster tried little grubbers through the advancing line, perhaps to buy themselves more space subsequently.

True to form, Biarritz were just as unrelenting when attacking up the middle through quick off-the-top ball and when they got their patterns going from another off-the-top lineout ball up the middle, Mike Mullins missed Bidabe out wide and when Munster pushed up too quickly for Chris White's liking, Dimitri Yachvili opened the scoring.

Worse soon followed when Peter Stringer's long pass landed at the feet of John Kelly. Harinordoquy kicked through and Bidabe nabbed Burke from behind, although common sense and the naked eye decreed Biarritz used hands on the deck to steal the ensuing ruck ball - most probably Serge Betsen - for Damien Traille to give Martin Gaitan an unopposed run to the line. In a tribute to Munster's improved defence under Graham Steadman though, it was the only try they conceded.

Munster did have their passages with the ball, attacking narrowly through many phases for negligible gain, before a quick tap by Stringer and strong running by Mullins put them on the front foot after 33 minutes. Wallace, O'Connell and Horan took it on before Munster were outnumbered at the breakdown and more strong running by Donncha O'Callaghan, Mullins, O'Connell and Wallace after O'Callaghan latched onto a rare Biarritz spillage created a chance that died when Burke overcooked a long skip pass to Henderson.

Furthermore, there were hints of desperation creeping into some of Munster's defensive work, Quinlan being the prime offender with three penalty offences for coming in at the side and playing the ball on the deck - Yachvili landing two for an imposing 16-0 interval lead.

But how Munster rolled up their sleeves and responded. Whatever was said at half-time, they upped their intensity, ran even harder and began punching holes. Horgan, perhaps grateful to be on the shadier flank, set the new trend with a strong cutback line at pace, Horan did likewise and Payne hit the line to beat Betsen and Brusque before being denied a try when tap tackled by Lievremont.

In any event, Wallace picked up at the base of the scrum to skin Yachvili and score. A classic number eight pick-up and arcing outside break, and classic Wallace. Burke converted. Game on.

Now even a few of White's marginals went Munster's way, while a ferocious double hit by Frankie Sheahan, especially, and the hard-working O'Callaghan on Traille lifted a mini-siege by Biarritz.

For the first time in the afternoon, The Fields of Athenry could be heard from the far side of the ground to the press box.

Foley picked up from the retreating scrum that followed, whereupon Horan made a truly stunning 40-metre dash upfield like a knife through butter, and O'Connell (you sensed digging deeper than most) threw in a sidestep.

Marlu athletically defended a Burke punt into the in-goal area but when Stringer lost the ball after sniping and Biarritz kicked downfield, Payne was penalised for not releasing and Yachvili gave his increasingly frustrated team and supporters some welcome breathing space.

A stunning counterattack by Horgan, and some neat sidestepping by Kelly and another Horan pick and go led to Burke bringing it back to 19-10 but they couldn't get to within a score.

The 50-50 calls started going against them, Biarritz seemingly offside and Harinordoquy lying over the tackled player to stem another drive, before Horan was penalised for not releasing under the Biarritz posts after more strong running by Wallace, Foley and Kelly.

With Alan Gaffney making resourceful use of a bench with limited impact, Munster tried everything in their locker, but the game stayed frustratingly beyond their reach. In what is possibly the understatement of the sporting year, it certainly wasn't for the want of trying.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 12 mins: Yachvili pen 3-0; 15: Gaitan try, Yachvili con 10-0; 30: Yachvili pen 13-0; 40: Yachvili pen 16-0; Halftime: 16-0; 45: Wallace try, Burke con 16-7; 59: Yachvili pen 19-7; 67: Burke pen 19-10.

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE: N Brusque; P Bidabe, D Traille, M Gaitan, J Marlu; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; D Avril, B August, P Balan, O Olibeau, J Thion, S Betsen, I Harinordoquy, T Lievremont (capt). Replacements: B Lecouls for Balan (58 mins), D Couzinet for Olibeau (63 mins), T Dusautoir for Lievremont (78 mins), J-M Gonzalez for August (80 mins).

MUNSTER: S Payne; J Kelly, M Mullins, R Henderson, A Horgan; P Burke, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, A Quinlan, D Wallace, A Foley. Replacements:_ J Holland for Burke (74 mins), J Williams for Quinlan (76 mins), P Devlin for Mullins (84 mins).

Referee: C White (England).