Munster Through To 12th Successive Quarter Final

Munster just about survived an intense clash with Northampton at Thomond Park to book a 12th successive quarter-final appearance and leave the Saints worrying about their Heineken Cup survival. Four Ronan O’Gara penalties guided Munster to top spot in Pool One and a home quarter-final, but Northampton could still progress with them. Their hopes of qualifying  lie in wait on what happens tomorrow in particular the clash of Leinster and London Irish at Twickenham. Munster though, have no need to take an interest in the mathematics.

Despite a second-half sin bin for their captain Paul O’Connell, and being torn apart by a dominant Northampton scrum, fly-half O’Gara’s accuracy proved crucial. He totalled the combined goalkicking efforts of Saints marksmen Bruce Reihana, Shane Geraghty and Stephen Myler, who each landed one penalty.

Northampton did have their moments, yet try-hungry backs like Chris Ashton and Ben Foden were largely stopped at source, engulfed by Munster’s red defensive blanket. Munster’s man-of-the-match Alan Quinlan tackled himself to a standstill, and such was the home side’s immense collective effort that Northampton could find no way through even when O’Connell was off the pitch.

The initial exchanges were nervous and hurried from both teams, although Munster edged ahead through an O’Gara penalty inside three minutes.

Northampton’s appetite was also evident at scrum-time, where Murray made life distinctly uncomfortable for Munster loosehead Wiaan du Preez, and Saints drew level nine minutes before half-time. Reihana rifled over a 48-metre penalty that rewarded Saints’ set-piece efforts, but the visitors were then pinned inside their own 22 with half-time looming.

A second O’Gara penalty restored Munster’s lead, yet there remained plenty of hope for Northampton that they could emulate Leicester’s achievement of three years ago and win a Heineken tie in Limerick.

Reihana missed a long-range penalty chance to tie the score four minutes after the restart, but Saints had another opportunity five minutes later, this time wasted by Geraghty. He managed to find his range after 53 minutes, but Munster quickly regained a three-point advantage when O’Gara completed a penalty hat-trick.

And Munster seemed to have panicked under pressure, with O’Connell punished by French referee Romain Poite for hands in the ruck as Northampton attempted to turn the scrummaging screw. A sin-binned O’Connell could only look on amid escalating Saints pressure, yet Munster somehow kept their shape – even with their New Zealand wing Doug Howlett pressed into emergency back-row scrum duty.

O’Gara and Myler then exchanged penalties during the final 10 minutes, but Munster’s superior experience in high-octane European encounters saw them through as the mist descended on Thomond Park.

Daniel "Pitchside" Pitcher Twitter: @DanFM104Sport About: Dan "Pitchside" Pitcher provides insight and commentary as the chief soccer and rugby correspondent for Sportspeak.