O'Gara walks the walk in Munster red

Rugby/ European Cup: Rarely has one interview provoked such heated debate about the relative merits of the various leagues in Europe, especially the Celtic and English versions. As events transpired, Ronan O'Gara's broadside at the English game appeared particularly well-timed.

O'Gara had talked the talk, but yesterday he walked the walk. Capping off one of his finest all-round performances, the Munster outhalf landed a towering penalty from inside his half to steer Munster to a magnificent, 21-19 win away to Leicester in Pool Four of the Heineken European Cup.

He'd missed one before in the half from about 10 metres closer in.

"That was a poor strike, to be honest," said the Ireland outhalf. "It was a difficult day for kicking. You try to kick with your body and drive through the ball while staying tall. It's like hitting a three-iron. But I just said, 'no, stick with your technique', and I suppose that shows how much it helps to have someone like (Irish kicking coach) Mark Tainton in the Irish set-up."

His performance underlined O'Gara's immense mental strength, but he still looked like a player who'd had the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders.

"I'm delighted. I've had a difficult week, to be honest. As I said to Sky, people who know me know that I don't seek controversy. I don't enjoy being in the limelight and an awful lot was made of my interview. I just hope that I can put that behind me now. I'll always stick up for my own team-mates, I think they're class players and that's my belief, and if I offended people I apologised."

One of the main reasons for believing that Munster could do something special was the match-up at outhalf. In Paul Burke's more recent, two-year second spell at Munster, it wasn't much of an even contest then, and it wasn't much better for him here either.

Largely played off the park by O'Gara in the first half, during which he also missed two kickable penalties and found little distance in his line-kicking, Burke received the shepherd's hook at half-time. Andy Goode's impressive performance as replacement merely made one wonder why Pat Howard had made the call in the first place.

Munster deserved their win, living off the slimmer possession and territorial rations with a classic, smash-and-grab away day performance with stealthily taken first-half tries by Donncha O'Callaghan and David Wallace. Once again this competition had brought out the best in them and their fans, and they dug as deep as they've done on many an occasion here for the whole 80 metres.

"Everyone's delighted in the dressingroom," said O'Gara. "We've had a poor start in the league, but this competition brings out the best in us. You saw today we can rise to the occasion, but knowing us now we'll make it difficult for ourselves next week (at home to Bourgoin). Hopefully, we can drive on."

Munster's win ensured the Irish teams continued where they left off last season in the pool stages, with three wins from three. Once again, this included a home and away Leinster and Munster double over teams from the English Premiership, and Ulster's thrashing of Toulouse. It is the 13th clean sweep by the Irish trio, all of them coming since the 2001-02 season.

With the Welsh also completing their first three-from-three as regional outfits, the weekend reflected well on the Magners Celtic League, with seven wins out of eight, leaving the English Premiership with one from six. Even the French Top 14's four-from-six featured an Italian double.

Leinster's win with a bonus point over Gloucester on Saturday also gives them the perfect start. If the sides finish level at the end of the pool stages, it would mean Gloucester would not only have to beat Leinster, but earn a bonus point while denying Leinster one, and outscore them by three tries or by two tries and 18 points. In any case, the margin of Leinster's win might give them a little extra room for manoeuvre come the third weekend in January.

As is their wont, Leinster never looked like completely subduing an equally positive, young Gloucester outfit, who showed enough to suggest the return meeting in Kingsholm will be a tough affair. But Michael Cheika's team have a capacity to strike quickly.

"We took our opportunities, which was good; (we) missed a few. But it was important that we stopped them from adding to their two in the second half, and all of this could count," Cheika said. "In all the groups, everybody has to go for everything; you saw that last (Friday) night."

Unlike Leinster, Ulster had 30 points and three tries in the bag by half-time at home to Toulouse, and while it would be churlish to criticise anything about such a stunning success over the tournament's only three-time winners, Ulster might yet regret not having availed of an even more favourable chance to claim that bonus point. After all, the result was much more of a foregone conclusion at 30-3 than 30-17, and Ulster had countless set-pieces inside the Toulouse 22.

When it comes to the end-of-pool rematch, a fourth try on Saturday might also have given Ulster more margin for error, but then again that presumes Toulouse will still be in contention; not on Saturday's evidence though, and certainly not with Fabien Pelous lumbering at number eight.

Cheika agreed that Agen's slightly fortuitous 19-17 win over Edinburgh in the other group game on Friday was probably a good outcome, on the premise that Edinburgh might reasonably be more of a threat in Pool Two than the French outfit.

Against that, of course, Edinburgh are already fighting for their European Cup lives next Sunday in Murrayfield, when they play host to Leinster.

"That's the key game for us," admitted Cheika. "If we win that one we're in a real good spot and then we can really focus on the games against Agen."

The sight of French referee Christophe Burdos being led away with a wound which required half a dozen stitches caused much mirth in the press box in the light of Leinster's recent disciplinary problems, but the clash of heads with Owen Finegan was purely accidental. As an aside, the feisty and talented Gloucester outhalf Ryan Lamb could clearly be seen to push the referee's arm away in the fall-out from Stephen Keogh's try, which could prompt a formal citing from the independent commissioner.

Cheika watched the game with Paul McNaughton and Mike Brewer at the front of the West Upper Stand, with David Knox at the back of the same stand, but the Leinster coach good-naturedly denied this had anything to do with their new disciplinary protocol.