HEINEKEN CUP Sale 16 Munster 24:THEY WOBBLED briefly, and in a sense had to win this game a second time, but Munster were in one of their belligerent Heineken Cup moods, and if they'd had to win again and again they probably would have done so.
Ultimately, pegged back level and with all the momentum going toward the home team, Munster came again to claim an utterly deserved win and despite finishing a man down, pulled away to deny Sale a bonus point - a real bonus.
Predictably, there was a familiar purpose to Munster's play as, not for the first time or the last, they defied logic. Not alone were they playing away from home, but the penalty count went three to one against them; their lineout struggled initially - they lost four of their first eight throws - and their scrum buckled and also cost them a few points.
Yet at the breakdown, in the collisions, in their sometimes massive defending and in their use of the ball, in their clinical taking of chances, save for a third-quarter revival when Charlie Hodgson was introduced, they were generally the masters, ruthlessly punishing Sale's surfeit of mistakes.
David Wallace and Paul O'Connell were outstanding and ferocious, Wallace covering vast tracts of ground in his tackling and ball-carrying, while as usual, the other dogs of war worked their socks off. Alan Quinlan, unsurprisingly after his undistinguished outing a week before, was full of nuisance value and big plays.
As ever, there was scarcely a weak link, and all the brains trust's selectorial picks came off, not least Paul Warwick at fullback and Keith Earls in midfield, where Lifeimi Mafi defied his relatively slight physique with a stormer, all big hits and dancing feet.
Tomás O'Leary's passing, box-kicking and sniping were excellent. As were the hard-working and ever-effective wingers Ian Dowling and Doug Howlett.
Munster should have been further ahead than 13-6 at half-time, and almost certainly would have been but for a faintly ridiculous 8-3 penalty count in favour of the home side by a French referee whose one-sided tally finished 12-4. Quelle surprise!
Luke McAlister having landed the second of two early penalties and Dwayne Peel having knocked on from a five-metre scrum, Munster needed an "in" into the match.
Dowling countered cleverly off Howlett's infield run and offload. Quinlan snaffling a loose ball also helped as O'Gara levelled it.
Quinlan blocked a Peel box-kick and Mafi tracked a chip by McAlister to deftly launch Earls and despite another crooked throw by Flannery, Quinlan was launched off a tap penalty when Sale conceded a free kick at a scrum.
On it went through the phases, Munster recycling off Earls's carry on the right and O'Connell up the middle before O'Gara ran diagonally and popped a short ball to Quinlan, whose deft hands in taking the tackle allowed Warwick to straighten through for the try.
A loose pass by Peel was fumbled in midfield by Chris Jones; Mafi pounced and soft hands by Donncha O'Callaghan released Earls for a kick and blindingly quick chase. Though Sale recycled, Warwick fielded Richard Wigglesworth's clearance just inside halfway and landed a sweetly struck drop-goal on the run - vindication alone of Tony McGahan's decision to include the Australia's cultured kicking game at fullback.
O'Leary's sniping became more and more of a threat, Warwick saw another drop-goal attempt blown off course, and irritatingly, amid several missed chances and plenty of leniency at the breakdown to the home side, McAlister brought the game back to a score after the Munster scrum disintegrated and a livid Quinlan was penalised at a ruck when it seemed a Sale body had played the ball forward.
McAlister broke out when eluding Flannery and underarmed his offload to the supporting Neil Brigg. From the recycle, Sébastien Chabal came charging on to Peel's pass but Mafi lined up and emptied The Caveman. The half ended with a corner of Stockport shuddering from that seismic collision.
O'Gara having extended Munster's lead on the resumption, Hodgson made a huge difference on his arrival with his accurate line-kicking and wristy distribution. When Mafi was penalised for dumping Marc Jones in the tackle - a hometown decision if ever there was one - McAlister brought it back to 16-9.
Compounding this, the officials contrived to miss Mark Cueto's offload inside travelling five metres forward before the referee inadvertently provided a block as Marc Jones took the ball up on a good line and offloaded for Dean Schofield to score under the posts. 16-all and game very much on.
Munster's response bore all the hallmarks of European champions. Warwick and O'Gara worked the territory and despite an O'Gara penalty being ruled wide after hitting the top of the posts, Justin Melck charged down a Hodgson kick and then, just before being replaced, an ever-alert Quinlan nabbed the outhalf from a daft quick throw on the Sale 22 by Rory Lamont.
That was a major turning point and the ensuing pressure off a couple of attacking scrums told as Howlett and Mafi were sent down Hodgson's channel. O'Leary sniped and O'Connell rumbled before Mafi called for a blindside pass from O'Leary and the centre's quick hands enabled Wallace to power through Wigglesworth's tackle for the telling try.
Mafi was binned for a high tackle on Mathew Tait, effectively for the 10 minutes of injury-time, but McAlister was wide with the penalty. Howlett emptied Tait and O'Gara ended some aerial ping-pong with a lovely, angled kick to the corner. Flannery rumbled infield, and O'Gara sealed the win with a 45-metre drop-kick.
Cool heads in a crisis, and winners all right again.
SCORING SEQUENCE:5 mins: McAlister pen 3-0; 17: O'Gara pen 3-3; 22: Warwick try, O'Gara con 3-10; 25: Warwick drop goal 3-13; 31: McAlister pen 6-13 (half-time 6-13); 42: O'Gara pen 6-16; 57: McAlister pen 9-16; 61: Schofield try, McAlister con 16-16; 71: Wallace try 16-21; 85: O'Gara drop-goal 16-24.
SALE SHARKS:R Lamont; M Cueto, L McAlister, R Keil, D Doherty; R Wigglesworth, D Peel; L Faure, N Briggs, E Roberts; S Chabal, B Cockbain; C Jones, L Abraham, J Fernandez Lobbe (capt). Replacements: M Jones for Briggs, C Hodgson for Peel (both 46), D Schofield for Cockbain (52 mins), J White for Chabal (58 mins), S Turner for Roberts (69 mins), M Tait for Jones (74 mins). Not used: C Bell.
MUNSTER:P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt); A Quinlan, J O'Sullivan, D Wallace. Replacements: J Melck for O'Sullivan (54 mins), D Ryan for Quinlan (68 mins), B Murphy for Melck (83 mins). Not used: D Fogarty, F Pucciariello, P Stringer, D Hurley. Sinbinned: Mafi (79 mins).
Referee:Christophe Berdos (France).
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