Pool Four/ Leicester 19 Munster 21: Another in the pantheon of epic Heineken European Cup ties, and another epic win in Munster's ever-evolving odyssey.
This second win in two treks to the fortress that is Welford Road was altogether a more nerve-jangling and tougher triumph than the quarter-final of four seasons ago, and in sport's uncanny way of things, Ronan O'Gara emerged as the match-winner with an 80th minute penalty from inside his own half.
Played in deplorable conditions, countless incidents and refereeing decisions will be pored over, right up to that fateful 80th minute penalty when Shane Jennings, of all people, conceded his second three-pointer of the second period after his arrival despite forcing an apparent knock-on when tackling O'Gara.
That Leicester, critically, were also pinged an extra 10 metres was also in keeping with the match, as they persistently kicked the ball away after the decision to prevent any quick taps, and had twice before incurred the extra 10 metres. In an old-fashioned thunderous battle for inches, that turned out to be huge.
Until they buckled under Leicester's late surge, Munster scrummed well and pulled their lineout together after a serious wobble in the second quarter. Donncha O'Callaghan pilfered a try at the summit of their fine efforts, Denis Leamy was voracious and immense, O'Gara simply magnificent and Shaun Payne, on a horrible day for full-backs, staggeringly flawless and brave.
The rain, as forecast, had teemed down from about half an hour before kick-off, making the surface not dissimilar to a skating rink, while the ball was the proverbial bar of soap.
Some of the old familiar European Cup sights had returned, with one battalion of the Red Army concentrated on the terracing in front of the main roaring the team in to the dressingroom, as is custom, after their warm-up. Admittedly, come the gladiatorial entrance, there was no doubting who were the home side, but in a classical away performance, Munster quietened them for lengthy spells.
Munster won the toss, electing to play toward the end populated purely by red in the second period - as was the case in their quarter-final win here four years ago. They quickly found a rhythm, not forcing the pass or doing anything too fancy, and protecting the ball better in contact.
Almost immediately we saw a greater physicality from Munster in the collisions, and fiercer, quicker work at the breakdown. After a big Leicester scrum, Frankie Sheahan made a huge hit on Martin Corry to force the spillage, and following the first rendition of The Fields big tackles by Barry Murphy and Donncha O'Callaghan on George Chuter and Daryl Gibson kept up the heat.
When Ian Dowling, typical of his work-rate, popped up in a quasi-scrumhalf position to nab Scott Bemand, the ball popped out of the tackle to O'Callaghan inside his own half, the big lock accelerating away from Ben Kay all the way to the line to score with an exultant dive. Shades of Noel Mannion in Cardiff.
Although O'Gara missed the conversion and Paul Burke then opened Leicester's account, O'Gara's beautifully weighted grubber yielded a five-metre scrum. Trevor Halstead and O'Callaghan set up good targets, the second with a hint of accidental offside, before O'Gara dropped into the pocket and dropped the goal. A classic away team raid.
Leicester asked questions, Bemand's box kicks and a typically fearless win on the deck by Lewis Moody keeping them on the front foot, but Corry couldn't hold on to the soap with the line begging and Burke had his misses.
Munster waited half-an-hour for their first penalty, all the while O'Gara outkicking Burke out of hand too. However, their lineout creaked under huge pressure from the Leicester lifters and Kay and Leo Cullen, Munster losing four on the spin.
Deep into first half injury-time, they went long to Leamy, and O'Gara attacked the gain line to launch John Kelly through the middle with an inside pass. Halstead took it on, and though tackled short, David Wallace picked up and adroitly extended his arm over Cullen's tackle to score.
O'Gara converted, but Leamy's blocking from the restart - referee Nigel Owens finding an eighth minute of injury-time - allowed Burke to make it 15-6 at the interval with his last act.
Andy Goode's introduction changed the tone of the game immediately; his lengthy touchfinders pegging Munster back. A sensational play by John Murphy, gathering O'Gara's cross kick by his laces and chasing his own chip up the touchline, nearly led to Gibson scoring off Goode's grubber - a killer ploy in the conditions.
Anthony Foley made way for Alan Quinlan with a shoulder injury before Goode attacked the wings with successive cross kicks, Leamy (whose presence grew with his move to number eight) tackling Tom Varndell into touch. Goode and O'Gara exchanged penalties before a sweet backline move by the Tigers and Murphy's strength in the tackle before the cavalry arrived, led to a spate of four close-range scrums. Munster were penalised at two of them, and despite seeming to get the hit and the shove on the last, they were either penalised for deliberate wheeling or losing their footing as Owens unsurprisingly went to the posts for a penalty try.
O'Gara's restart went out on the full - his only mistake - leading to another rampaging Leicester scrum and the lead penalty from Goode. Munster's goose looked cooked but moving in to the 79th minute, O'Gara more than made up for his error. Running lineout ball from his own 22, his show and go penetrated the defensive line before he was collared by Jennings.
He lost the ball forward in the tackle, even if Jennings did seem to try and play the ball on the ground, and either another attempt to prevent a quick tap or back chat led to the penalty being brought to two metres inside the Munster half.
O'Gara had been just wide from seven or eight metres closer, but this one he struck perfectly to just scale the crossbar. There were still some scares in six minutes of injury-time, but one great take by Payne and another touchfinder by O'Gara saw them ride out the danger deep in Leicester territory.
Scoring sequence: 10 mins: O'Callaghan try 0-5; 15: Burke pen 3-5; 17: O'Gara drop goal 3-8; 40 (+6): Wallace try, O'Gara con 3-15; 40 (+9): Burke pen 6-15; (half-time 6-15); 53: Goode pen 9-15; 62: O'Gara pen 9-18; 71: penalty try, Goode con 16-18; 73: Goode pen 19-18; 79: O'Gara pen 19-21.
LEICESTER TIGERS: S Vesty; J Murphy, O Smith, D Gibson, T Varndell; P Burke, S Bemand; M Ayerza, G Chuter, M Castrogiovanni, L Cullen, B Kay, L Deacon, L Moody, M Corry (capt). Replacements: A Goode for Burke (half-time), J White for Ayerza (51 mins), H Ellis for Bemand (54 mins), S Jennings for Moody (61 mins), S Rabeni for Gibson (72 mins). Not used: J Buckland, J Crane.
MUNSTER: S Payne; J Kelly, B Murphy, T Halstead, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt), D Leamy, D Wallace, A Foley. Replacements: A Quinlan for Foley (51 mins), F Pucciariello for Hayes (70 mins), Mafi for Murphy (80 mins). Not used: A Kyriacou, M O'Driscoll, T O'Leary, J Manning.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
