Heineken Cup Munster v Leinster:THE ALAN Quinlan incident with Leo Cullen is still an issue today as citing commissioner John Byett from England has 50 hours from the final whistle to decide whether the Lions tourist gouged Leinster captain Leo Cullen.

The Leinster camp, including Cullen, were not prepared to condemn the long-serving Tipperary man, while Quinlan’s captain, Paul O’Connell, and coach, Tony McGahan, dismissed the possibility of him intentionally committing such thuggery.

Like Arsene Wenger, none of the players or management had viewed the video when they spoke to the media, even though it had been shown repeatedly by Sky Sports cameras.

“I didn’t see the incident. We know nothing at the minute,” said McGahan.

O’Connell said the 34-year-old flanker, while uncompromising, is not capable of gouging an opponent.

“Quinny isn’t that type of guy. He is a tough player, but that is not something he has in his record books. Definitely. If it looked bad I’m sure there will be nothing in it.”

The ERC are expected to make an announcement tomorrow.

Speaking to a defeated O’Connell and McGahan was strange, considering the quality of play produced by Munster this year. After confirming their superiority over their supposedly weaker Leinster cousins twice this season, it must be a repulsive pill to swallow.

“It’s unbelievably hard to take,” said the Lions captain. (Ian McGeechan is a happy man this morning, now the cotton wool is out in Limerick.)

“These are the games that will be remembered for a long time, especially this game in Croke Park. Unfortunately we’ve not just lost. We’ve been very well beaten. It is going to be tough to take, but that’s sport.”

McGahan echoed his captain, and noted the difficulties Munster face next season to maintain the highest of standards, what with the recuperation process after the Lions tour continuing into the autumn.

“Words couldn’t describe it. To look at the players and just see how despondent they are. How much it hurts, the pain etched on their faces, to know they have come up short in a competition that is very dear to Munster.

“Today we were second-best. Second-best for a long, long time.

“The Heineken Cup, with regards to Munster, is everything. We put a lot of effort into it. We have a very strong history and tradition with the competition and we certainly wanted to get to the final in Edinburgh but, alas, we are not there.”

O’Connell was unable to put his finger on what actually malfunctioned, and he gave due credit to the victors, but he felt the game was still there at 25-6 with 20 minutes remaining.

“When Brian’s intercept went in I still thought we had time to pull something off,” said O’Connell. “We had the players to do it, but as time faded away with four or five minutes to go it was just tough to be out there at that stage.

“We didn’t expect to play that badly. No doubt about it, the guys are gutted in the changing-room. There hasn’t been a lot said about it. It’s a tough couple of weeks now, but that’s sport.

“Good luck to them. They were excellent. They were the better team today in practically every facet of play. Fair play to them. They were outstanding.”